Lido Love

Looking to combine your passions for sailing and swimming? The East Coast has you covered!
Brightlingsea is home to the only still-open historic lido in Essex: (www.brightlingsealido.org). This much-loved swimming facility started life as a tidal seawater pool in 1932 and, following total reconstruction in the 1970s, is an important feature of the town’s Western Promenade, with a 50m unheated pool plus a smaller pool for children. Changing facilities and sun loungers are available, and there is a café on site.

Tollesbury Marina (www.tollesburymarina.com) in Essex has its own heated and undercover pool for berth holders’ and visitors’ use, but just next door, Woodup Pool is an open, saltwater pool that offers a family-friendly introduction to outdoor swims, paddles and play. Open from late May, the pool has an area of sand at one end, making it feel more like a beach, plus a picnic area so you can stay the day… and best of all, it’s completely free to use. The pool naturally fills with water on spring tides and its use is at your own risk as no lifeguards are in attendance.

See www.tollesburyparishcouncil.gov.uk for details.
Medway's only open-air swimming pool, The Strand Lido and Leisure Park at Gillingham features a family-friendly outdoor pool plus river walks, a café and play park areas. Saltwater and not artificially heated, the swimming facilities available here include an outdoor leisure pool, six 25 lanes, a toddler paddling pool, childrens’ slides and a 300m lazy river plus sunbathing areas around the water’s edge.
The Lido is operated by Medway Council and visits must be booked online in advance – see www.medway.gov.uk/strand for more details.

In Suffolk, Beccles Lido (www.beccleslido.com) sits in a beautiful spot a few miles inland, beside the River Waveney at the gateway to the Broads. The three pools here are all heated to 28°C in the summer season and to 15°C in winter. Choose from the main pool which has a 3.7m deep end, springboard and a slide, a 75cm deep toddler pool and an adjoining 27cm deep splash pool that’s perfect for young children and babies. There’s also a café, children's adventure play and family picnic area, plus all-weather exercise equipment.