Historic lido celebrates 90th year of opening

The lido will host live jazz music and an inflatable assault course to celebrate

A Grade II listed lido is celebrating its 90th year of opening.

Sanford Parks Lido, in Cheltenham, which first opened in 1935 under the ownership of Cheltenham Borough Council, will offer half-price entry to visitors on Sunday to mark the milestone.

They will also be relaunching their buy-a-brick scheme, which allows individuals to purchase personalised bricks that will be placed in the pedestrian walkway leading to the lido.

Julie Sergeant, CEO of Cheltenham Lido, praised the site's dedicated community and said their "huge customer base who are passionate about the lido" has "kept it going" over the years.

Cheltenham Lido as seen in 1981, approaching its 50th year in operation

Now managed by the charitable trust Sandford Lido Limited, Ms Sergeant said that the lido - which is hailed as "ultra-modern" - has remained open every year since its inauguration, even throughout World War Two.

"The reason for that was because it had heating, chlorine gas, and filters," she said.

"If you go back 10 years before that, pools were literally just tanks of water filled at the start of the week," she added.

In 1936, the pool had about 89,000 visitors, whereas it now has more than 200,000 annual visitors.

The lido hopes to have more than 1,000 people per swim session on Sunday.

Julie joined the team in 1996 as the first employee of Sandford Lido Ltd

While maintaining its traditional style, the lido has continually sought to modernise.

In 2024, the Lido was given more than £300,000, from the English Sports Council, to improve energy efficiency which helped to "keep the facility open".

"We don't have a roof, but we have redesigned the car park, by putting in car ports with solar panels on top which will generate 93% of their electricity usage," said Ms Sergeant.