Lido Land

by Tom Fort

People are currently flocking back to Britain's lidos in their thousands. But this isn't the first time they've made a splash.

From the author of The A303: Highway to the Sun comes a deep dive into the historical and cultural significance of the British lido that will make you fall in love with outdoor swimming.


Tom Fort takes us on a fun-packed journey around the UK's lidos past and present, proving that lidos can tell us more about social trends, progress and political ideology than you might think. Along the way he takes us to the only surviving Lido in Wales, built in the 1927 to help miners wash off their daily dirt, to the Portobello Pool in Edinburgh where Sean Connery was once a lifeguard, and around the iconic seaside towns of Blackpool and Weston-super-Mare where the loosening of Victorian moral standards could be measured by the shrinking of swimming costumes. Along the way, we meet the beauty queens competing for the Miss New Brighton crown at the Merseyside lido in 1966, a mayor who finished Guildford lido's opening ceremony by stripping off his robes and gold chain and diving headfirst into the water, and we spend time with the colourful characters involved in designing, creating and keeping lidos afloat through the years.


His journey shows us, time and time again, the personal significance of the lidos' communal spaces - the unmistakable cold of the water rising above your shoulders, the sounds and smells of poolside sunbathing, the sun-baked tiles underfoot and the warm towel after a freezing dip. Fort, with his characteristic wryness and nostalgia, gathers memories and observations from the swimmers he meets along the way, interspersing these with historical fragments and moments from his own history. He laments the lidos we have lost, celebrates those saved by persistent community organising, and takes a frank look into their future.

336 pages, Hardcover

Published May 7, 2026

About the author

Tom Fort was education at Eton and Balliol Collge, Oxford. On leaving Oxford he went to work as a reporter at the Slough Observer and the Slough Evening Mail before joining the BBC in 1978 where he worked in the BBC Radio newsroom in London for 22 years.

He took early retirement in 2000, just before the publication of his social history of lawns and lawn-mowing, The Grass is Greener.

Reviews

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biased. I love lidos

[Peter Baran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Fort likes a niche subject. He's travelled across England in a punt, talked about the Great British Lawn and hardware stores and a number of books on fishing. Indeed here he admits that given the choice he'd be jumping in a river rather than necessarily swimming in a lido, but after nature, a lido is the next best thing. His easy conversational style pulls us in to appreciate these peculiarly British institutions, and increasingly rare ones because, as he also notes, its very hard to get your lido to make money. Perhaps with the climate crisis the season for outdoor swimming might be extended, but the British summer, and weather in general, is mercurial, and lidos lurch from being overpacked on the hottest days to abandoned on a drizzly day in September.

Fort certainly has the experience to write a book like this. An easily digestible mix of social history, town planning, architecture, georgraphy and vox pops, it does settle into a groove quite quickly. Ford visits a currently open lido, talks about its history and the inevitable battle to keep it open. He then contrasts it with another potentially similar lido which had succumbed to hubris, and cracking concrete. If he can throw in some nasty leisure centres that never really replaced the lido, all the better. But even he, whilst admiring the joys of the Serpentine, Tinside and Jubilee Lido, has to admit that for all their wonders, they can haemorrhage money, and lidos don't survive without a committed local public support. He also bemoans the loss of the days when councils could do grand projects like this, whilst never advocating for their return. It is a pretty comprehensive and accessible book about lidos, which marks out a sliver of Britishness.

[CPE · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Fort’s Lido Land is a well-judged mix of history and personal anecdote. Fort is a fan of lidos, those open-air swimming pools, often associated with the 1920s and 1930s, that include areas for spectators and large grassy areas for people to soak up the sun. Fort visits many of the UK’s lidos – some open, some closed and even bulldozed for many years – and gives us a brief history of each one, together with his reflections upon how it appears now. Sometimes, he finds someone local, passing by, who remembers the lido in their youth and explains the freedom that the town’s youngsters had, spending part of a day without parental supervision, playing in the water and learning to swim. I was impressed by his attention to detail: Guildford’s Mayor Harvey, having given a speech at the new lido’s opening, removed his robes and insignia to reveal his swimming costume and dived into the pool, followed by five other members of Guildford’s town council!

Fort’s approach to each chapter pretty much follows the same formula, but it works very well. His musings, often while lying on the grass or enjoying an ice-cream in the sunshine after his swim, really do summon the languid atmosphere of relaxing without having to rush off anywhere. His prose is limpid, just like the water alongside him, sparkling in the sun.

To be fair, several of his trips result in the author and his wife, Helen, standing in the rain, sometimes with a brisk wind lowering the temperature, surveying a bleak stretch of grassed-over promenade, where a town’s pride and joy once attracted thousands of visitors. Fort doesn’t gloss over the dismal aspects, mentioning the graffiti and wire fences that may now surround any remaining buildings. Many of the lidos followed the same trajectory: very popular until the 1960s, when the reinforced concrete of which most of them were made started to exude rust stains; and the crowds who used the lidos discovered that holidays to Spain could be cheap and were almost always warm and sunny. British lidos didn’t really compare well with a Spanish beach. I’ve never described a book as elegiac, but I think that adjective really works here.

I recommend this as a book to enjoyed slowly. Take a leaf out of Fort’s book and relax. There’s no need to rush to finish it.

#LidoLand #NetGalley

[Shreedevi Gurumurty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Fort’s Lido Land is a brilliant, nostalgic deep dive into the cultural history of the British lido, showing how these open-air pools served as mirrors for 20th-century social progress.

Derived from the Italian word for "beach," a British lido is strictly defined as a public, open-air, unheated, or lightly heated outdoor swimming pool. Unlike modern indoor aquatic centres—which prioritize clinical efficiency, year-round sports training, and artificial climate control—the lido is an architectural and sensory experience. It is defined by its communal nature: sun-baked tiles underfoot, the shock of cold water rising over the shoulders, and the open sky above.

The 1930s saw a massive boom in lido construction across the UK, from coastal hubs like Blackpool and Weston-super-Mare to industrial zones. In 1927, Wales built a lido specifically for miners to wash off their daily dirt, while Edinburgh boasted the iconic Portobello Pool (where a young Sean Connery worked as a lifeguard).

​Politically and socially, lidos symbolised progress, healthy living, and the democratisation of leisure. They represented a dramatic break from rigid Victorian morality. This shift was physically measured by the rapid shrinking of swimming costumes and a new embrace of sunbathing, physical fitness, and public joy. Beyond swimming, lidos were vibrant social hubs where people sunbathed, socialised, and hosted massive community events—a culture that later peaked with spectacles like the Miss New Brighton beauty pageant in 1966.

The lido's decline was driven by the rise of cheap package holidays abroad to warmer climates, the high cost of maintaining massive outdoor infrastructure in unpredictable British weather, and the rise of heated indoor facilities. Many iconic pools were lost to neglect.

​Today, a passionate revival is underway. Saved by fierce grassroots community organising, historic lidos like the Guildford Lido survive as treasured relics of a bygone way of life. The book paints a future where lidos are no longer seen as obsolete liabilities, but as essential, romantic sanctuaries for community connection and the timeless thrill of a freezing dip.

[Laura Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a proof copy from my book group supplied by the publishers and The Reading Agency.

As a cold water swimmer living on the South coast I tend to dip in the English Channel on a regular basis but recently have made trips around the country and, like many other aficionados, sought out local tidal pools or open air lidos wherever I am visiting. These recently have included trips to the wonderful Pitenweem tidal pools in the East Neuk of Scotland, The New Bath Hotel lido in Matlock Bath, and the sea pool at Brixham in Devon.

I was interested to read about the social and cultural history of lidos around the Uk which having had their heyday in the 1920s and 30s and often falling into disrepair and neglect with the advent of foreign holidays from the late 1960s onwards, are having something of a resurgence in popularity in recent years with the rediscovery of the benefits of cold water swimming . Tom Fort has travelled around the country visiting a range of these pools and presents us with a well researched history of each one tracing their highs and lows. More importantly he and his partner aim to swim in each pool , talk to other swimmers and meet many enthusiasts along the way. I could have done with some more visuals in the book ( perhaps my proof copy was lacking those of course) so as to enjoy the wonderful designs and colours of these pools. At times the story of each pool does become somewhat repetitive as the story of their heyday and subsequent decline has much in common with each other but overall it was an interesting read with perhaps some lessons for local communities, authorities and businesses on how to ensure the ongoing success of lidos as loved and treasured community facilities.

[Martin Southard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lido Land is one of those quietly absorbing books that sneaks up on you. What begins as a tour of Britain’s surviving open-air pools gradually becomes a meditation on community, changing holiday habits and the strange nostalgia attached to places once packed with summer life. Tom Fort writes with real affection for his subject, but never tips into sentimentality. His visits to faded seaside sites and restored lidos alike are full of charm, local colour and small historical details that bring each place vividly to life.

I particularly enjoyed the way the book captures the social importance of lidos — not simply as swimming pools, but as gathering places woven into everyday British life. There’s also something rather soothing about Fort’s pace and observations; it feels like wandering alongside him on a breezy afternoon by the water.

Even readers with little prior interest in outdoor swimming may find themselves unexpectedly drawn in. A thoughtful, engaging and distinctly British piece of social history.

Many thanks to Head of Zeus and NetGalley for providing this advanced copy

[Sue Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having experienced Lido’s in Australia I was really keen to read Lido Land. Tom has dived into the wonderful open-air swimming pools that seem to have all but disappeared around Britain. He gives us a history of each of these places, many of which ceased to exist some time ago. Talking to locals who remembered the heyday of the local Lido conjured up a picture of hot summer days when life seemed simpler and more free than today. It is such a shame that so many of these pools have been built on.
I really enjoyed this book, so full of nostalgia. A wonderful read.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book, the format of visiting and describing each lido then telling the history is a good one. Would have liked there to be some colour photos though as this is such a descriptive and visual subject.

[Madeleine Parsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent read if you’re in equal parts excited by social attitudes and trends in 20th century Britain and a lido nut.

If you’re not, you’ll probably find this book to be tedious.

Live laugh love lido xo