The Box | Tavistock Place | Plymouth | Devon PL4 8AX 01752 304774 Email Facebook Twitter
Tinside Lido opened on 2 October 1935. It’s a wonderful example of art deco architecture and is Grade II listed. It’s also been voted as one of the 10 best outdoor pools in Europe. There can’t be many outdoor pools that are set in such a unique and beautiful location as Plymouth Hoe!
Tinside Lido, September 1937. Image courtesy of the South West Image Bank
During the Second World War when Plymouth’s water supplies were compromised, Tinside was used as a communal bath house.
Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s it was extremely popular. With sun seekers choosing foreign holidays over ‘stay-cations’ in the 1970s and 1980s however its popularity declined.
It was eventually closed in 1992 and remained unused for more than a decade before undergoing a £3.5m facelift in 2003 to return it to its former glory. Tinside measures 180 feet wide and the depth of the seawater in it varies from two feet at the shallow end to nine feet at the deepest.
Plymouth History Festival 