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Sheaf Valley Swimming Baths


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My memories of Sheaf Valley baths.

The changing facilities were intially uni-sex cubicles. I remember trying to find an empty cubicle and opening the door to find a mother and child

trying to get changed (they'd not locked the cubicle door properly or maybe the lock was broken).

Can you beleive it, uni-sex changing facilites with doors that have broken locks, just shows how times have changed.

You would have to stuff all your clothing into a metal coat hanger type basket and take it to this cloakroom attendant. You'd stuff your underwear

to the bottom of the basket as you didnt want it on display to all and sundry.

They later split the changing rooms to make totally separate male/ female areas and the cloak room attendant area was put in between.

I can't see any problems with this Bridlington baths are the same and families can change together with out having to be split up.

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Guest marconi

Four revolving lights for session changes if I remember rightly, Red Yellow Green and Blue.

As each session ended the corresponding colour would flash, with a sound of a siren.

This would then get all the kids singing Blockbuster by the Sweet. lol

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I remember the area where you could sit and have a drink and a chocolate from the machines

Some of the bars in there you couldn't find from any shops anywhere else like 'nudge' bars, 'stop gap' bars and others that were worth the trip to the baths alone

Excellent

One day the machines were hacked by some clever kids who managed to ensure that the drinks machines and chocolate machines paid out your choice pluls gave you your money back

we had the time of our lives, stuffed our pockets and went home on a very legendary day full of chocolate

Hey!!!! I think I was there that day! I remeber having the machine freebies, we tried it again when we went back a week later, but it didn't work, so we went and told the cafe assistant that we had put our money in and haven't received our crisps (bones, remeber those?) so we also got a freebie that week!

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I remember s*&tting myself on the high diving platform, but after the first jump, I felt really bigheaded and it didn't take much to jump off it over and over again until one day while I was there I saw a boy dive off and smash his head at the bottom of the pool it seemed like the pool went pink with blood! (might be exaggarating, but it seem so at the time) and 2 to 3 lifesavers went in after him to pull him out, I remember him being unconcious, but no one would tell us how he went or if he was ok in the end. So after that they was rumours that the diving pool wasn't deep enough to dive and he wasn't the first one to have this mishap, so I never jumped from the high board ever again!

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Guest belfrybum

Sheaf valley! King of the baths!

When going up to the top platform there where plenty of people walking down the steps,looking really scared at the thought of plunging

to certain death!

I did a swimathon there and had my photo taken with Duncan Goodhew,anyone remember that?

that baby pool was really hot!!

And there were plenty of free bars from that vending machine.

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I jumped of the top splash also. I hit the bottom with a thud, good job I didnt dive in with the same force. :o:blink:

We tried to stay in the kiddy pool cause it was warm but the lifeguard used to chuck us out. I also remember keeping my band on my foot so the lifeguards didnt know what colour band we were. When we missed our colour we would say that we had just come in. It didnt always work although we went out looking like shrivelled prunes. lol

I remember my dad could swim a full length underwater (which was a standard length and a half) could only manage half way myself.

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Another of sheffields relics that has hit the dust. I have been to ponds forge, but it doesn't come anywhere near in what the sheaf valley was, even though ponds forge has the waves, currents and slides..it still cannot beat the adrenaline of the top splash!

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Draco, Adrenaline. Oh that is what it was, I thought it was just fear. lolhe helol

Well more like adrenaline on the edge and then a large bum burp on the way down :ohe helol he he

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Guest coolmo

I have been reminded of so many good memories of Sheaf Valley Baths, im absolutely gutted they are not still around today, the main things i remember are the smell as soon as you walked into the building, i loved it! and the seedy blue lighting at the enterance of the mens changing rooms and the pink for the ladies!

I only ever went off the top splash once and was never able to do it again, i remember one particular occasion i spent the whole swimming session trying to jump off and just couldnt do it! I also remember the kiddy pool tasting a little salty which we put down to the babies using it as a toilet! Those were the days!!

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Guest wunumpi

I left Sheffield in the mid 80's and have lived abroad since the early 90's. I have to say I'm stunned that the old Sheaf valley baths has gone. I went to college at Shirecliffe (also torn down) and we all used to pile down to the baths on a Wednesday afternoon and have a riot! I've never tasted hot chocolate as good as the stuff we got from the vending machines after swimming for a couple of hours. We also used to go to the Silver Blades ice-scating rink....please don't tell me that's gone....I had my first kiss there and it's a story I will NEVER forget! You know, I left and travelled a lot because I wanted new experiences...it seems i could have stayed put and watch everything change around me. On second thoughts, I'm glad I missed it. I loved it just the way it was.

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I heard that the baths were closed due to the leak rate. Cracks were appearing in the bottom of the pool with increasing regularity and they were constantly having to top it up. It closed at least once for refurbishment (i.e. to seal the cracks) but they were never successful.

Can anyone tell me what year Sheaf Valley Baths closed?

I know it opened in 1972 and I can remember going there, I think the year was 1982, but I cant remember when they closed it down.

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Guest Diz-e-dee

What Bliss! All these memories about the place I spent the biggest part of my later childhood. From the age of 11 until i was 16 I was there on an almost daily basis (even when I should have been at school).

I was a member of Sheffield City Diving Club (as was a Certain Susan Sully of The Human League fame). Thanks to the kind generousity of some of the staff I was sometime able to 'sneak' in without paying which after winning one of the diving finals wasn't necessary as I won a one years free swimming pass - YIPPEEE! three years on the trot - it saved my hard up Mum and Dad quite a bit of money. If I remember right it was between 20p and 25p to get in during the mid 70's the same as I got for my bus fare to school and dinner money. School - Pool - No contest! On the basket front - I remember having to put my bovril money in my shoe and stuffing my undies in after. I was always paranoid that my knickers were going to fall out on the wet floor in the changing rooms for all and sundry to see.

I have since moved out of Sheffield but I still come 'home' every few weeks and was gutted at seeing the pool close. I have taken the kids down to Ponds Forge and it just isn't on the same planet.

How many pools we had in Sheffield. I reguarly frequented most of them. I think part of the social problems of today are down to the lack of local facillities. My brothers and I all learned to swim in Sutherland Road Baths in Pitsmoor progressing to Sheaf Valley after its demise during the 'slum clearance' of the 70's. A great loss.

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Guest wunumpi

What Bliss! All these memories about the place I spent the biggest part of my later childhood. From the age of 11 until i was 16 I was there on an almost daily basis (even when I should have been at school).

I was a member of Sheffield City Diving Club (as was a Certain Susan Sully of The Human League fame). Thanks to the kind generousity of some of the staff I was sometime able to 'sneak' in without paying which after winning one of the diving finals wasn't necessary as I won a one years free swimming pass - YIPPEEE! three years on the trot - it saved my hard up Mum and Dad quite a bit of money. If I remember right it was between 20p and 25p to get in during the mid 70's the same as I got for my bus fare to school and dinner money. School - Pool - No contest! On the basket front - I remember having to put my bovril money in my shoe and stuffing my undies in after. I was always paranoid that my knickers were going to fall out on the wet floor in the changing rooms for all and sundry to see.

I have since moved out of Sheffield but I still come 'home' every few weeks and was gutted at seeing the pool close. I have taken the kids down to Ponds Forge and it just isn't on the same planet.

How many pools we had in Sheffield. I reguarly frequented most of them. I think part of the social problems of today are down to the lack of local facillities. My brothers and I all learned to swim in Sutherland Road Baths in Pitsmoor progressing to Sheaf Valley after its demise during the 'slum clearance' of the 70's. A great loss.

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Guest wunumpi

What Bliss! All these memories about the place I spent the biggest part of my later childhood. From the age of 11 until i was 16 I was there on an almost daily basis (even when I should have been at school).

I was a member of Sheffield City Diving Club (as was a Certain Susan Sully of The Human League fame). Thanks to the kind generousity of some of the staff I was sometime able to 'sneak' in without paying which after winning one of the diving finals wasn't necessary as I won a one years free swimming pass - YIPPEEE! three years on the trot - it saved my hard up Mum and Dad quite a bit of money. If I remember right it was between 20p and 25p to get in during the mid 70's the same as I got for my bus fare to school and dinner money. School - Pool - No contest! On the basket front - I remember having to put my bovril money in my shoe and stuffing my undies in after. I was always paranoid that my knickers were going to fall out on the wet floor in the changing rooms for all and sundry to see.

I have since moved out of Sheffield but I still come 'home' every few weeks and was gutted at seeing the pool close. I have taken the kids down to Ponds Forge and it just isn't on the same planet.

How many pools we had in Sheffield. I reguarly frequented most of them. I think part of the social problems of today are down to the lack of local facillities. My brothers and I all learned to swim in Sutherland Road Baths in Pitsmoor progressing to Sheaf Valley after its demise during the 'slum clearance' of the 70's. A great loss.

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Guest wunumpi

The top splash was just the best. I remember the first time I went up to the platform and looked down. I thought I was gonna get a nosebleed!!! Then a college friend of mine, a very quiet, placid little thing, just walked to the edge and dived off! No way I was gonna let her upstage me! So I did the same....thus becoming addicted to the adrenaline rush. SO if you are reading this Rosemary J, you are ultimately responsible for me diving off the top board at a pool here in Australia some years later, and hitting my head on the bottom, knocking myself out and causing the pool to be closed down to drain it to get rid of the blood! Thanks a bunch :)

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Guest transit

...great pic ! - just a shame it did'nt pan a little wider, with the coloured "tubes " to the left to indicate your time was up , flashing one of 4 colours to match your rubber wristband (one hour was your time) ,and to the right was the Rolf Harris painting which he did on the opening ceremony in 1972. Also towards the 90's the area behind the guard ,just right centre , became a gradual tropical garden !

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I went there most nights from 1979 to 1983. I preferred the middle diving board as you could do stunts and better dives from there. I remember trying to soak the attendant that sat on the chair opposite the boards. I managed it a few times. Another thing we would do late in the evening is dive into the kiddie pool. You have to dive really flat to manage it. I was sad to see it go as it was a fun pool and didn't have the serious atmosphere of Pond's Forge. I got most of my girlfriends there, no mean feat as I suppose the goods were on show :o. I even met my wife there.

 

I had heard that the pool was built 2 metres short deliberately so that it would no be used for events and be free for the public.

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On 03/09/2017 at 14:06, Sheffield History said:

Anyone remember the rubber bands you had to wear that were colour coordinated?

Yes there was four colours and the alarm sounded every 15 mins to call a colour in.

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