sun sculpture and a community pool
A local swimming pool has an art installation in place to raise money, so I cycled down to meet a friend to swim. The installation is a scale replica of the sun, lit up inside with swirling lights with an accompanying ambient soundscape. The effect of swimming under the sun was more impressive than I thought it would be... it's probably a coincidence, but the water gets cooler as you move further away into the deep end as well, which is a nice effect. Very fun. The installation is called Helios, and it's by a Bristol based artist called Luke Jerram who's done similar installations before.
The sun suspended over the swimming pool
The pool itself also had a fun community vibe, with a lot of children and families and older volunteers. Parts of it definitely look worse for wear after decades of use (actually the pool was opened in 1937 so about 90 years of use!) It's community owned pool run entirely by volunteers, who took over the pool a few years ago, after a period when it was threatened with closure due to council budget cuts. I'm glad it's getting this boost which will hopefully result in them having some more money to spend on the building.
Here's a quote from the history of the pool page on their website.
The urban architects and designers in the 1930s had a vision of a utopian world where every citizen could live well in semi-detached homes with gardens big enough to feed the family, inside bathrooms and modern kitchens. CFW Dening, the architect of Jubilee pool, was at the forefront of this movement.
It's funny to think about the optimism of the post-war years, in the current climate (post Tory austerity, housing crisis). I'm glad the pool has been taken on by volunteers in the community, although it's frustrating to see people stepping up to fund things through their own hours and money that a country should be able to provide people - a community place that benefits public health. I hope they continue to thrive.