New Brighton Open Air Baths 1934 -1990

Sorry for the long hiatus. There have a lot of real life things going on at moment, the biggest being that I have moved house and some of my postcard collection got separated so I'm still sorting through things. I hope I haven't lost anything.


I love this card, it contains two of my passions, open air swimming pools and art deco structures.

I'm sure quite a few of you reading this will be familiar with New Brighton baths and may have spent the odd summer day there and bathed in these waters.

Just as with the doomed New Brighton Tower, when the baths were constructed in 1934 they were the largest of their kind. Photographs of the era show that they really were quite spectacular looking at the time, bright and stylish and contemporary looking, the baths attracted 100,000 visitors in their opening week. As well as the 4 and 1/2 acre pool, visitors could enjoy lying on the terraces and soaking up the sun, watch the bathers or dine in the café and all for 6d.

From 1949 until the year before it closed it also became known for its Miss New Brighton Bathing Beauty contests which drew crowds of up 10 15,000 people.

As with everything on this blog it eventually came to an end. In February 1990 hurricane force winds damaged much of the structure and as repairs would have come to £4 million it was decided instead to bulldoze the pool and this happened in the summer of 1990.

The Hotel Majestic

As another TT draws to a close this will be my last Manx related post for a while, though do expect more in the future. I have a lot of Isle of Man postcards.

We've looked at some tourist attractions, but all those tourists had to stay somewhere so I'll be looking at one of the many sadly now defunct hotels on the island - The Majestic.

Although there is still a request stop in Onchan called the Majestic Halt, the hotel is long gone having been razed to build apartments .

The hotel started life as a mansion in 1893 and was sold in 1920 to a couple looking to build a hotel to cater to tourists who wanted to take advantage of the attractions of Douglas and not have to travel from the South of the island to do so.

Tho hotel open in 1922 and boasted a ball rooms, billiard room and bar. The swimming was not added until 1935 and the same year the hotel changed its name to the Majestic Lido Hotel. In the following decades the hotel became a popular place for wedding receptions and was increasingly used by non-residents.

The decline of the hotel is a familiar one. As foreign holidays become more available, domestic based holidays fall out of favour and the local tourist industry suffers and so it was the case with the Majestic. It ceased functioning as a hotel in 1987 but the building remained for a few years as an auction house before, as stated earlier,it was razed to build apartments.

I'm not sure when the above postcard is from, it's not dated,  but I've seen similar pictures used on adverts for the hotel from the early 1970s so that seems about right.

Open Air Bathing Manx style : Port Skillion and Peel

Some of my postcards I'd really like to be able to dive right into and with the hot weather we've been having recently I wish I could dive right into the pools depicted on the following couple of cards.

The fist post card  shows Port Skillion bathing creek near Douglas Head. Built in 1874 by Mr Robert Archer , they were possibly the first open air baths in the British Isles.

Initially they were for men only though women used to enjoy watching the men which was considered quite scandalous at the time with people writing letters to newspapers about the moral decline of the island.

I imagine the scene would have looked like this card sent in 1908 and written in what I think is Welsh.

The people who wrote the card  below do not seem too bothered about any lowering of  moral standards as they state they are having a great time.

The card is published by Valentines and research indicates it's from 1909 but other research conflicts that as guides published in 1910 state the cove was for gentleman only. The card is not dated but the stamp is of George V SG 338 so 1911 seems about right.  

The creek stopped being used in 1932 after the surrounding walls were storm damaged.

The second postcard is more up to date and shows the outdoor pool in Peel.  It was published by Bamforth is one of the Color (sic) Gloss Series and is likely from 1969.

There had been an open air pool in Peel since 1900 but this was closed in the 1950s due to cliff erosion. Those above replaced it and remained open until the 1970s. They are now filled in and there are currently no public outdoor swimming pools in the Isle of Man which I think is a shame.