Is it ‘Lee-doh’ or ‘Lye-doh’? Who cares! First-class and fun, Beccles heated outdoor swimming pool has to be East Anglia’s finest!
If you’re up for a family day out, powering up and down the lanes, bouncing about on aqua inflatables or just lazing poolside, this is the Beccles place to be. But with competitions and water carnivals taking place in/on the river for decades, it’s a chance to be a part of a real Beccles tradition too.
Swimming in the River Waveney was always something much loved by the locals, and parts of the river around nearby Bungay still remain a favourite ‘wild swim’ spot with those who wish to do so (at their own risk).
In Beccles, folk were getting wary of the perils often associated with swimming directly in the river, from currents to vegetation, silting and river traffic.
So it was in 1894, that versatile architect Francis Banham – actually, the designer of St Benet’s Church – planned ‘The Bathing Place’ at Beccles.
This serviced area, dug out from the Waveney, provided a river ‘enclosure’ as a safer option to swimming directly in the river channel itself. The floor of the area was unmade and all space was still to be shared with all the usual Waveney River wildlife, plants and more!
In 1959, the Bathing Place was replaced by an unheated pool separate from the river – free from fish or eels and without a pea-shingle floor!
This first Lido was subsequently transformed into the heated 3 pool Lido in 2009.
