After leaving St
Mark’s, I headed for Templemore Avenue Public Baths and Swimming Pools. This is
another building that I pass close to on a regular basis, travelling to and
from work, but had never ventured inside. Time to change that! Even in the late 1800s, many working
class homes in east Belfast didn’t have what are today regarded as basic
sanitary requirements, such as plumbed baths. To meet that need Templemore Avenue opened in 1893, and was one of four such public baths in Belfast, regularly serving thousands of
local residents every week, including workers from the Harland & Wolff
shipyards and the Sirocco Works etc. As domestic facilities improved,
the need for such public baths waned and, by the early 1980s, the centre faced
closure before being rescued by a voluntary committee. The portion of the centre currently
open to the public includes a 25 yard pool, gymnasium, and sauna. However,
quite a large portion of the building remains off-limits (except for events
like EHOD) and in need of restoration and sensitive development. As always, I hope that readers enjoy my photographs,
but even more that they’re inspired to get out for EHOD 2015 and see great
sites like this for themselves!
Notes:
For anyone interested
in the other EHOD properties I’ve seen and written about my find the following
of interest:
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