Local swimmer aims to open chemical-free outdoor pool – plus sauna to warm up in – near Oxenhope
This article titled “Shivering heights? Plans for natural lido high in Brontë country” was written by Helen Pidd North of England editor, for The Guardian on Tuesday 7th June 2022 15.40 UTCPlans are being drawn up for the UK’s highest-altitude lido, a chemical-free, “natural” outdoor pool perched up on the West Yorkshire moors.
Conceived during the lockdown boom in open water swimming, it is hoped the Yorkshire Swim Works acan be built near Oxenhope, a small village close to Haworth, which was once home to the Brontë sisters.
Situated 378 metres (1,240ft) above sea level, the site is at the intersection of various long-distance walking paths including the Pennine Way and the Brontë Way, and offers far-reaching views of the moorland made famous by Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights.
Though still in the very early stages, the team behind the project have outline planning permission to buy a 7-acre site that was formerly a water treatment plant by Thornton Moor reservoir and reimagine it as “an accessible, safe, natural outdoor swimming destination for everyone”.
It would be one of the first naturally filtered public swimming pools in the UK. Cleaned without chemicals, the water would flow through biological filters before reaching a “regeneration zone”, where carefully selected aquatic plants and mineral gravel layers help to cleanse it while creating a wildlife-friendly habitat.
The proposed pool would be open all year round and unheated, with water temperatures likely to range from zero to 25C. Hardy winter swimmers would be able to warm up in a poolside sauna. There are also plans to build eco-lodges on site for overnight stays.
The project is the brainchild of a local businesswoman and outdoor swimmer, Caroline Kindy. “The Yorkshire Swim Works was conceived during a lockdown quest to find amazing and safe places to swim outdoors. The idea was shared with a group of expansive thinkers and has grown into a project with real potential,” she said on the project website.
She recently received a £4,500 research grant from Bradford council to explore the project’s economic viability, and has invited swimmers to fill in a survey to help understand demand. She is looking for funding and investors to develop the project into reality.
Sarah Ferriby, Bradford council’s lead for healthy people and places, said: “We are thrilled to support the Yorkshire Swimming Works. Bradford is a district that is two-thirds rural with some of the most stunning countryside in the UK, from Ilkley Moor to Brontë country in Haworth. A project like this is perfect for Bradford right now and has the potential to become another unique attraction for our diverse district.”
A spokesperson for Swim England said they had helped Kindy with a small feasibility study regarding the natural pool concept.
Ken Eastwood, a parish councillor in Oxenhope, said: “I’d love to see it happen. I know outdoor swimming is becoming more popular with people and Oxenhope is a beautiful part of the world to do it.”
Public lidos are few and far between outside London. West Yorkshire has one, in the spa town of Ilkley, though in 2017 local swimmers managed to get official permission to swim in Sparth reservoir, at the northern end of the Peak District near Marsden.
Some councils are investing in outdoor swimming facilities as the sport’s popularity grows. Hull city council is spending £10.5m to renovate its inner-city lido, and Ilford council in east London recently announced plans to build a new outdoor pool in Valentines Park as part of an £11m development.
In Cumbria, South Lakes council is working with community activists to reopen Grange lido in Grange-over-Sands, by Morecambe Bay.
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