The day the High Street Baths faced the end of the road - 50 years ago this week

You had a splashing time at the High Street baths but it looked like it was all going to come to an end in September 1975 when council cutbacks kicked in. The baths were being considered for closure.

100 years of tradition

And that meant a tradition which had lasted more than 100 years was about to disappear.

he fate of the High Street Baths was under scrutiny at Sunderland Borough Council. If it went ahead, 2,500 Wearside schoolchildren would be affected as they went there for swimming lessons each week.

The Sunderland Echo report at the time said: “It would leave Newcastle Road baths as the town’s only public swimming pool. At present, 26,95 schoolchildren use the High Street pool each week.”

But news of the possible shutdown met with dismay in some quarters. Joseph Clarke, secretary of the Sunderland Amateur Swimming Association, said at the time: “Such a move would totally overwork Newcastle Road baths.”

‘To close it totally would cause a great number of problems’

He admitted, though, that the High Street baths were fighting a losing battle to stay open.

“I know that the apparatus is well past its best,” he said. “But to close it totally would cause a great number of problems. Perhaps the council would consider keeping it open just for schools without their own pools until the Crowtree Road complex opens.”

Mr Clarke added: “People have worked hard there over the past few years to keep the baths going although our training has often been upset by temporary closures at High Street for repairs.”

He said the building really needed re-equipping, but added: “We all know that is out of the question.”

Whole classes of schoolchildren took the bus

Sunderland’s director of recreation Robert Sutherland said he had recommended that the leisure sub-committee should have a good look at all the facts concerning the baths, and that until that had been done, there was little information available on the possible closure.

Few schools could boast their own swimming pools in decades gone by.

And that meant bus trips to public baths with whole classes going at a time.

The High Street baths were usually used by schools which were on the south side of the river. They were known partly because of the baroque doorway and clock at the entrance.

And another feature was the individual cubicles around the pool.

But both the High Street and Newcastle Road baths eventually closed and we would love to hear what you thought of them.

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