At Wessex Film and Sound Archive you can see and hear history, from late Victorian times to the present day, through moving images and sound recordings. The Archive contains over 36,000 film and sound recordings relating to Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, including film and tapes of local TV and radio.
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Hilsea Lido
Hilsea Lido is the venue for this amazing short film from 1964 - where crowds of kids splash about, swim, slide and jump from high boards while parents look calmly on
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Overview
This short film about Hilsea Lido shows hundreds of children and adults jostling for space in the crowded outdoor pool. Kids can be seen on the various water slides and a brave few assemble on the top of the highest diving platform before jumping into the pool, while others are swimming about. The Moderne-style lido features viewing terraces where spectators can be seen sitting in the sun.
Hilsea Lido is a fresh-water outdoor swimming pool with a maximum depth of 4.6 metres., making it one of Britain's deepest outdoor pools. Designed by architect Joseph Parkin, it opened for business in July 1935, originally as a sea-water pool though it was later changed to fresh-water. It was designed to accommodate almost a thousand swimmers as well as a thousand spectators. In August 1936 the British Olympic diving team gave a demonstration at Hilsea Lido soon after their return from Berlin. The Lido even appeared in the 1974 feature film 'Tommy'. In 2010 a campaigning residents group purchased the lido, with a 99 year lease from Portsmouth City Council, and in July 2014, the refurbished lido was re-opened.
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