The reopening of a village swimming pool is set to be celebrated in style. The Old Pool building in School Lane, Queniborough near Syston, was purchased and restored to its former glory by husband and wife team Trevor and Yvonne Farmer.
Yvonne, who learnt to swim in the pool as a child, said she was “devastated” when she learnt the pool was up for sale. Mrs Farmer said that the pool was “really quite old” and that new heating and filtering systems had to be installed
She said: “I loved the building, we really were delighted and over the moon to get it. My grandfather went to school there, I grew up in Queniborough. It’s just a wonderful thing that we were able to restore it. Our intention all along was to reopen the swimming pool.”
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A lot of work has gone into getting the pool up to scratch
(Image: Yvonne Farmer)
The couple also endeavoured to retain as many of the building’s “original features” as possible. These included the original doors which had pieces of iron wrought missing from them. The iron pieces were recreated using wood by Aron Partride, who then painted them black to give the impression of iron. The original school benches at the pool have also been restored.
Tracey Murch, one of the founders of the SwinWith Jo group that will be running sessions at the pool, said it was “absolutely amazing” that the pool was saved. Ms Murch said: “When we found out the pool was going up for auction we did look at getting it ourselves but there was no way we could afford it.
“We did not know what it was going to be, there were rumours it was going to be a Chinese restaurant.” The group will be offering parent and child classes, stage one, two, three qualifications under Swin England, as well as offering lessons for local schools, community groups and more.
A ceremony to celebrate the reopening is set to take place on Friday (January 17). A plaque will be unveiled by the Mayor of Charnwood, Councillor Julie Bradshaw MBE.
Original features such as the doors have been restored
(Image: Yvonne Farmer)
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