lido
Lido may refer to:
Geography
* Lido (Belgrade), a river beach on the Danube in Belgrade, Serbia
* Venice Lido, an 11-kilometre-long barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon, Venice, Italy
* Ruislip Lido, a reservoir and artificial beach in Ruisl ...
situated on
Jesus Green
Jesus Green is a park in the north of central Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, north of Jesus College. Jesus Ditch runs along the southern edge Jesus Green. On the northern edge of Jesus Green is the River Cam, with Chesterton Road (the ...
in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. Opened in 1923, it is one of the few remaining examples of the lidos built across the country in the 1920s — open air pools with space for activities other than swimming. Unusually, the pool is significantly longer than it is wide — this was a design idea to mimic swimming in the nearby river. It opens for public bathing every day from May to September each year, and remains open but operates reduced hours over the winter period.
Jesus Green, though only wide, is among the longest outdoor swimming pools in Europe at in length (the largest freshwater lido is
Tooting Bec Lido
Tooting Bec Lido is an open-air fresh water swimming pool in South London. It is the largest fresh water swimming pool by surface area in the United Kingdom, being long and wide.
The Lido (swimming pool), Lido is on Tooting Commons, Tootin ...
in London, which is the same length, but wide).
It has a depth of at each end, and a maximum depth of in the centre. Diving is allowed into the centre section of the pool. The pool has a dedicated swimming lane for 'fast' swimmers the remaining two-thirds is for recreational swimming.
The pool is unheated. The Organisation owning Jesus Green Pool maintain data on water temperatures on their website.
Located alongside the
River Cam
The River Cam () is the main river flowing through Cambridge in eastern England. After leaving Cambridge, it flows north and east before joining the River Great Ouse to the south of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely, at Pope's Corner. The total distanc ...
Jesus Lock
Jesus Lock is a lock (canal), lock on the River Cam in the north of central Cambridge, England. This is Lock No. 1 on the navigable portion of the River Cam.Victoria Avenue Bridge, the pool has sunbathing space and is paved on one side with grass on the other. A sauna is available.
A map giving th detailed layout of the lido can be seen on OpenStreetMap.
Despite past attempts to shut it down, it has remained open. In 1997, the pool facilities were upgraded, with new shower and toilet facilities added, although the new design was complained about, due to problems with the architecture and plumbing. The pool still retains most of its original features and remains of interest from a historical point of view. There are separate male and female changing facilities, and domed structures containing showers at either end. Baskets, and room for their storage, are provided for clothes.
There is a much smaller outdoor pool upstream of the city centre at Sheep's Green, and swimming in the Cam remains popular near
Grantchester
Grantchester () is a village and civil parish on the River Cam or Granta (river), Granta in South Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about south of Cambridge.
Name
The village of Grantchester is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as ''Granteset ...
.
In Media
A short film titled "Jesus Green Pool" was produced in 2004 by amateur director Chris Cox. The film emphasizes the seasonal nature of the pool by documenting a single summer at the pool; from opening in the Spring, to closing in the Autumn. It was shown at the
Cambridge Film Festival
The Cambridge Film Festival is the third-longest-running film festival in the UK. Historically, the festival took place in early July, but now it occurs annually during autumn in Cambridge. It is organised by the registered charity Cambridge ...
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
channel to provide live updates of water temperature and weather closures.
Pool information from
Cambridge City Council
Cambridge City Council is the local authority for Cambridge, a non-metropolitan district with city status in the United Kingdom, city status in Cambridgeshire, England. The council has been under Labour Party (UK), Labour majority control since ...