All you might ever want to know about Withington Baths …. and more

It’s perhaps a bold statement by me but having just read the draft of “The story of an Edwardian public swimming baths in south Manchester”, by David Rydeheard I think it’s justified.

The varied roof-scape of Withington Baths

So, to use a line from an old advert “its got the lot” with chapters covering its history from 1904 to its proposed closure in 2013, the campaign to save it  and its renewal under the stewardship of “Love Withington Baths”, which has a dual status as a private limited company and a charity.

There is a fascinating chapter on its engineering history and another by Simon Green on the restoration of the building, as well as a section which describes other swimming baths in the area and has an extensive set of references.

But for me as a social historian I was drawn to the chapter on the place of the baths in Withington community which includes the memories of people who used the place, as well as period newspaper reports and photographs with pictures of the restored bits from tiles to windows and the original 1910 design plans.

The chimney of the Baths, 2025

David tells me that the book “will be going to the printers this coming week, and will then be available for purchase, online at Withington Civic Society (contact@withingtoncivicsociety.org.uk) or at our outlets, including Withington Library.

Withington Walls, Details from a mural by Skeg, at the rear of the Baths

So, that is it.  

Looking forward to its publication and the offical launch of the book which will be  at the 10th birthday party of the new Baths managmement, over the weekend of the 14th-15th June.

Location; Withington Swimming Baths

Pictures; from the collection of David Rydeheard