The rise and fall of Blackpool Derby Baths

It first opened as an Olympic-sized seawater baths in July 1939, at the hefty cost of £270,000. The outbreak of the war, however, meant that Lord Derby was unable to perform the official opening in 1940 as planned. It wasn’t until 1965 when the neighbouring sauna centre opened that his grandson was able to do the honours. The pool was a firm addition to leisure swimming in the following decades, but later suffered financial loss and closed.