British English British English is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom, especially Great Britain. More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to ...

, a lido ( , ) is a public outdoor

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

and surrounding facilities, or part of a beach where people can swim, lie in the sun, or participate in water sports. On a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

, the lido deck features outdoor pools and related facilities. The term probably made its way into English via "Lansbury's Lido", a nickname used in the British press for London's Serpentine bathing place. The bathing place was revamped in 1930 as a project of the Labour First Commissioner for Works,

George Lansbury George Lansbury (22 February 1859 – 7 May 1940) was a British politician and social reformer who led the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party from 1932 to 1935. Apart from a brief period of ministerial office during the Labour government of 1 ...

, a plaque to whom appears on the Serpentine pavilion to this day. The re-opening garnered significant press attention as a result of Lansbury's introduction of "mixed" bathing. ''Lido'', an Italian word for "beach", forms part of the place names of several Italian seaside towns known for their beaches, such as

Lido di Venezia The Lido, or Venice Lido (), is an barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon, Northern Italy; it is home to about 20,400 residents. The Venice Film Festival takes place at the Lido in late August/early September. Geography The Lido island is o ...

, the

barrier beach Barrier islands are a coastal landform, a type of dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few is ...

enclosing the

Venetian Lagoon The Venetian Lagoon (; ) is an enclosed bay of the Adriatic Sea, in northern Italy, in which the city of Venice is situated. Its name in the Italian and Venetian languages, ' (cognate of Latin ' ), has provided the English name for an enclosed, ...

. Like the Lido di Venezia, the Serpentine "Lido" includes an extended area of shoreline. The nickname "Lansbury's Lido" was probably also ironic, given the contrast between the glamour of Venice and the relative squalor of

interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

London – not to mention the latter's variable weather.

References

Notes Sources *

External links

All The Lidos Lidos and Pools UKHistoric England Blog - A Brief Introduction to Lidos
* Anne Green Jessel'
Lost Lidos
(UK)

No Diving
- an oral history and film archive project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund exploring the role of Hilsea Lido in the memories of the local community.
The Outdoor Swimming Society Top six international lidos
Outdoor structures {{Authority control

See also

References

External links