WORCESTER Citizens' Swimming Pool, like all others, lies closed and unused because of Covid restrictions, so we thought we'd throw open the doors on the past, and the long hard work to get the place built.

The pool in Lower Wick is 47 years old this summer.

The Lower Wick pool emerged from the determined efforts of a group called Worcester Citizens Swimming Bath Association, which took the bull by the horns in the 1960s after plans to replace the elderly and privately owned Parks's Bath in Sansome Walk with a new facility, hit the buffers when the city council suddenly announced it hadn't got the money for such "luxury" projects.

Worcester News: January 1974, and the pool is taking shape. When complete, its waters were heated by methane gas from the nearby sewage treatment worksJanuary 1974, and the pool is taking shape. When complete, its waters were heated by methane gas from the nearby sewage treatment works

Led by Alderman Stanley Marshall, the WCSBA eventually got the money together and looked at all sorts of sites, including Cripplegate Park, the YMCA in Henwick Road and the edge of Pitchcroft by The Moors, before dairy farmer John Bennett – son of a former mayor – generously donated land at Lower Wick with the pool water heater ingeniously powered by methane gas from his cows.

Pictures: Places and faces from the past

The pool eventually opened in 1974 and here are a few pictures from over the years.