It’s almost impossible to overestimate the impact of Jubilee Pool on Penzance.
This glorious triangular lido is an Art Deco jewel loved by both locals and visitors. In fact, ‘pool’ doesn’t really do it justice, does it? It’s become an iconic destination. Over many decades, we’ve all visited this landmark to swim, play, flirt, eat and celebrate our community.
Today, Love Penzance has come to talk to CEO Nicola Murdoch about the pool and its upcoming ninetieth birthday in May 2025.
‘It’s been here for so long now and it evokes such nostalgic memories,’ says Nicola. ‘When you look back through our archive, it really hasn’t changed much. In fact, just yesterday, a group walked in who hadn’t been here for 60 years. Several remarked, “It looks exactly like it did when I was a girl.” It stands the test of time.’
The storm that saved a pool
It almost didn’t, of course. In 2014, a mother of all storms caused catastrophic damage to Jubilee Pool. The future looked very bleak indeed.
Says Nicola, ‘“Game over” was the initial thought. During the storm, the water was actually bursting through the bottom of the pool. The site was scattered with concrete and broken slabs. It was destroyed. It was already challenging to run financially and there was talk that it might even close down completely.’
Then something remarkable happened. A group of local people founded a charity, the Friends of Jubilee Pool (this later evolved into Jubilee Pool Penzance Limited, a Community Benefit Society). With a brief that surely must have amounted to Never Bloody Give Up, they lobbied, harangued and fundraised with a force that gave the great storm of 2014 a run for its money. Ultimately, they secured funds from various organisations – among them the Architectural Heritage Fund – of £1.8m. Notably, nearly £540,000 came from a public share offer. This means that the pool is now truly owned by the community, with 970 of the 1400 shareholders local people.
Says Nicola, ‘It’s amazing, isn’t it? And ironic. It took something as catastrophic as the storm to save the pool. Because, in truth, it was struggling beforehand. But when people realised it could be gone, forever – this apparent constant in our lives – it reignited their love for it.’
This mission to save the pool turned into something much bigger. From repairs, the focus moved to innovations such as the geothermal project – a first of its kind plan to partly warm a section of the pool from underground geothermal heat. Much of this innovation is driven by community members who no doubt wanted to see the next generation make the same memories they had made here.
‘It’s incredible,’ says Nicola. ‘So much of what has happened in the past 10 years has been driven by volunteers.’
Early days to gala days
Jubilee Pool was designed in the early 1930s by Captain F Latham, the borough engineer, and opened with great celebration in May 1935, the year of King George V’s Silver Jubilee. It is the UK’s largest seawater pool, holding approximately five million litres of water and is usually a couple of degrees warmer than the surrounding sea.
While the Art Deco style was not uncommon for UK lidos in the 1930s, Jubilee Pool was uncommonly beautiful and special. This isn’t just our unashamedly biased opinion, but one shared by a guide book from 1938, which also revealed some of the practical reasons for its unique shape and character.
‘In many respects the design is unique architecturally, partly from a point of view of necessity in conforming with existing conditions of wave elements and rocks which controlled the outline. Streamlines have been used to the greatest advantage in meeting the direction of the storm waves, while a Cubist style has been adopted in the interior in providing diving platforms and steps…’
The pool soon became a watery hub for community activity. School groups learned to swim here, events such as tongue-in-cheek ‘beauty parade’ galas became a mainstay, as did water polo competitions and the famous long-distance swim from Newlyn. Later came live art and dance events, synchronised swims, surf life-saving events and much more. The thread running through all of these events, and the pool’s history, is something both commonplace and yet rather profound – friends hanging out and having fun. And if you think we’re getting misty-eyed and a tad over the top, take a look at the wonderful Jubilee Pool archive. It’s a fab testament to what the pool means to the community.
Jubilee Pool today
Today, Jubilee Pool continues to put on a range of events for every taste, from AquaFit classes in the geothermal pool to circuit training, rookie lifeguard courses and adult swimming lessons in the main pool. There’s also dancing on the terrace during Sunday Sessions, yoga on the terrace (and what a gorgeous spot for your sun salutations), poolside pizza nights and invigorating twilight swims on full moons through the winter months.
The team continues to innovate with inflatables events for kids (and adults!), live music nights and the famous doggy dip on the last day of the season where, to quote Jerry Lee Lewis, there’s a whole lot of shaking going on.
There are tons of discounts for local people, including an under 16s Swim Free scheme for Penzance youngsters and other participating districts. Also, there’s discounted swim tickets for all Penzance Parish residents (20% off the main pool and 40% of the geo pool) and discounted geo pool tickets for Cornwall residents with a TR postcode.
Says Nicola, ‘We obviously encourage visitors as well, but for the vast majority of the events we run we have the community in mind.’
What to do about winter?
If the above sounds like a packed itinerary – it is. But, like so many Cornwall outdoor attractions, Jubilee Pool sees its busiest period in the summer with a tailing off in the winter. Traditionally, until 2020, the pool opened only seasonally from Whitsun until the end of September. More recently, the pool opened all year round. However, in 2024 it was decided to scale back the winter activity.
The pool did receive a fair bit of criticism for this move, but Nicola defends the schedule change. She says, ‘The decision to scale back was to protect the business model for the rest of the year and for many years to come – just like many other businesses in the area do in winter.’
But the pool is still open for select events in the winter. There’s the pool and sauna Cold Water Club twice a week, special events such as those monthly Full Moon Swims (November to March), a Winter Solstice Sunrise Swim, a Christmas Eve Dip and a New Year’s Day Dip. It also hosts live music most Sundays in the café, which is open throughout winter from Wednesday to Sunday.
Nicola, the team and volunteers continue to innovate and hope to encourage more events in this iconic Mount’s Bay spot. The key, she says, to providing the pool with a future is to look beyond the pool itself.
‘I think, as we move forwards, more events will occur around the sides of the pool as well as in the pool. To remain viable with such a big and exposed site, we have to utilise the whole venue, not just the water. To do that, we need to have robust outdoor covered areas that will enable us to host special celebrations such as weddings and also create a practical environment for outdoor exercise classes, school learning groups and outdoor music events.’
Meanwhile, the team is actively pursuing National Lottery Heritage funding to undertake significant remedial work to make the pool more sustainable for the long term.
Ninetieth birthday celebrations
This year, the pool celebrates its historic 90th anniversary and Nicola and the team are already planning activities, with a big party scheduled for the birthday on 31 May. Initial plans sound promising for nostalgia merchants. Says Nicola, ‘We’ve got live 1935-style music, costume and dancing – basically a big party with activities throughout the day. We’ll also be selling commemorative merchandise – watch our social for details.’
It’s clear Nicola has a genuine passion for the pool. So, what does she most love about it?
‘The noise is one of the loveliest things. In the summer, you can just hear the laughter and feel people’s joy from the fun that they’re having and the memories they’re making with their families. Seeing and hearing it be this happy place is so lovely.’
And what would she like to say to anyone who’s waded this deep into our article?
‘Just come! Swim in the pool. Float in the geo. Eat in the cafe. Come to the music events, and keep an eye on the website and our socials for what’s going on. And if you’re planning an event or would like to use our space, there’s endless opportunities, so, please, use us.
‘Finally, if any of our shareholders would like to become directors, get in touch. Jubilee Pool is and always has been a community venture, so we’d like our community to keep shaping our future.’
Visit the Jubilee Pool website to find out more about opening times, events, locals’ discounts, the history of the pool and more. For up to date event information, check out the Facebook and Instagram feeds.
Finally, a special shout out (again!) for the Jubilee Pool Stories Archive – it’s an absolute treasure trove of pictures, recollections and history of the pool told by local people.
