Remembering North Berwick’s ‘heated’ outdoor pool

It has been 25 years since the much-loved seasonal “heated” outdoor swimming pool in North Berwick was closed, and those who worked at, as well as used the pool, are sharing their fond memories of what was a staple in the community.

North Berwick's outdoor swimming pool

Residents believe the pool was constructed around 1900 and it helped generations of local youngsters to learn how to swim – including one of Edinburgh’s chosen sons who grew up to be Sir Ronnie Corbett.

It was often advertised as being “heated” – but those reflecting on their summers there have said they were always convinced that was a myth.

Shona MacDonald was the last Pool Mistress before East Lothian Council closed it in 1995.

She began her journey as an assistant to the Pool Master, Sandy Jenson, in 1988 and learned the ropes of how to manage the mechanics of the facilities under the guidance of Jim Pearson, before ascending to the top job in 1992.

She said: “My first day in charge was April 21, 1992, and I arrived to find a young lad fishing with his grandad’s sea rod in the pool. He had told me he caught ‘twa the day before’ and I didn’t believe him till we drained for the start of the new season and saw several fish flapping around in the mud.

“On average we had 36 working days to get the pool from mud and fish to freshly painted and ready for opening – we even let the kids skateboard in it before it was painted.

“And from then we were open to the public an average of 87 days.”

But when the pool did open, fun was had by all and not always in the most conventional ways.

Shona added: “Jim Pearson after he left became a lobster fisherman. And on his way back from sea he used to pass us and throw small crabs into the pool. You have never seen a pool clear so quickly with screaming kids.

“On another occasion we had to borrow a friend’s terrier to get a rat from the office. The kids were screaming before asking for a photo with the rat after it had been caught, you just couldn’t make it up.”

Others rejoiced at the memories of gala day Wednesdays when unlabelled tins of food were thrown into the pool for the kids to retrieve.

Shona along with the local community joined by Sir Ronnie, failed to save the pool when it was under threat in the 90s but say they did all they could to keep the memories alive at the time.

Shona added: “The kids were the best part. They just created the memories and I used to love entertaining and looking after them at the pool.”