Tooting Popular Lido Front
Something slightly different for my daily swim on Saturday morning. With fifteen summers of love for all things @BrockwellLido washed away in a single season through corporate incompetence from Fusion, I kept on cycling through Brixton, up towards Streatham and then a swing to the right for Tooting Bec Lido
Blimey.
I use to be a late season regular at Tooting back in the day. Once @BrockwellLido had pulled the shutters down after the August Bank Holiday, Tooting was my outdoor pool of choice through until the early autumn.
But with the bonkers 10am weekend opening time @BrockwellLido, I was buggered if I was to waste away half of my Saturday morning waiting for more misery from Fusion and it’s corporate incompetence.
Tooting was open for business at 6am. Brilliant. The obvious knock on effect of this is that the hour-long queues experienced back at Brockwell are banished from SW16.
The backlog of hot and bothered swimmers snaking all the way round to @thelidocafe is never really cleared throughout the day at Brockwell. Tooting however doesn’t allow for a queue to even start forming, with an early start to encourage a smooth flow of swimmers.
This ease of access was also carried over to the glorious 90-yard pool. The 10am dip at Brockwell is manic, as the not-so-early birds are all competing for space at the same time. Not so at Tooting, with a staggered approach to swimming.
The sensible £5 entry price at Tooting helps as well. The reception staff at Brockwell can’t seem to deal with the handing over of change, with the rather awkward £5.20 admission price. A chap at Tooting simply had a pile of grubby fivers on hand for anyone with a ten pound note.
I changed in one of the iconic Tooting multi-coloured themed cubicles. As well as adding to the historic atmosphere of the pool, this extra provision also eases the changing room provision that the shoebox changing rooms at Brockwell simply can’t cope with during peak times.
My swim itself was spectacular. I was able to see clearly underwater down a half stretch of the glorious 90-yard pool. Back at Brockwell and a metre visibility has been the best of late.
The base of the Tooting pool was incredibly clean. None of the plasters, crisp packets or unidentifiable floating objects that we have come to expect at Brockwell this season.
I had forgotten how the pool lining at Tooting has a rubber like mat quality. This felt far safer than the grazed and rather dilapidated pool floor at Brockwell, which has had one too many mid-winter breaks without any treatment.
My only criticism of the Tooting swim is the lack of swimming lanes. Much resistance was put up at first amongst the @BrockwellLido community. The lanes do offer guidance however, and provide a system that gives some direction once the pool becomes overcrowded.
I finished my swim, towelled off and then strolled straight inside the Tooting Lido Cafe. Sadly this is something that is not now possible back at Brockwell.
The Lido Restaurant Cafe is out of bounds from the poolside during busy days. You have to physically leave the pool, and then join the non-swimmers from the separate restaurant cafe entrance, all fully clothed and enjoying their private view of the swimmers and sunbathers.
I enjoyed my Tooting swim so much, that I stayed for the next four hours. Back at Brockwell and I usually head straight back to base after my swim. I’ve no reason to stick around - all sense of the lido community has long since been strangled out by the corporate mismanagement by Fusion.
Having paid up front for the season with my Brockwell membership, sadly I can’t justify a Tooting swim every morning as well. I’m already being fleeced twice by @lambeth_council, as a consequence of pimping out pools in the Rotten Borough to two preferred leisure partners.
I hope it is not too late for Fusion to return @BrockwellLido to the lido loving community that still holds a great deal of love for the building, the atmosphere and more importantly, the people.
To achieve this then Fusion has to recognise where the mistakes have been made, and take away the corporate identity and strong arm management that has turned @BrockwellLido into just another outdoor pool.
A trip to Tooting by Fusion staff would help. Here we have a local authority, running and managing a local authority own facility.
Now there’s a co-operative ideal for you.
11/07/2010 at 9:27 am Permalink
If I was able to get on my bike at the moment, I think I’d join you in defecting to Tooting! My question is though - do you get the impression that Fusion are remotely bothered by the way things have been of late/recognise that things are going amiss? They’re raking in the cash purely because of the hot weather, rather than their performance, so what’s going to compel them to act?
11/07/2010 at 9:47 am Permalink
@Nat I honestly think that Fusion do have some interest at the higher level of running the lido in a satisfactory way. I don’t get the impression that the senior management want to provide a unique service, in the way that Paddy and Casey did, but, satisfactory, yes.
As in most corporate organisations where this is a hierarchy based on wages, it is the poor souls at the bottom who have little motivation. Who can blame them? The agency staff such as the lifeguards have no other reason than to work to rule and watch their patch. The role of the lifeguard has traditionally been so much more at Brockwell - a meet ‘n greet friendly face, offering advice and even carrying out the weeding during quiet periods! The poolside is looking a bloody mess right now.
I agree with your point about raking in the cash - where is the incentive to improve the service? There are parallels here with the cafe. Although the cafe does offer an extremely high quality menu (for non-swimmers,) there is no reason for the management to open it up to the lido community. They are making money out of the East Dulwich Yummy Mummy crowd (nothing against the lovely East Dulwich Yummy Mummy crowd…)
Brockwell Lido Users have the power to act, and ultimately feed back to our friends at Lambeth Council. The BLU AGM this year should be interesting.
What a sorry state of affairs.
11/07/2010 at 12:24 pm Permalink
Tooting Bec lido is probably my favourite place in the world and the reason I moved to Streatham. I’m overjoyed that the rest of South London is starting to recognise it’s brilliance. Your stories about Brockwell have made me appreciate the sense of community and shared aims at Tooting even more. Enormous respect to the South London Swimming Club for fighting to keep it going over the years. Now that outdoor swimming is having a resurgence I think it’s going through more glory years.
11/07/2010 at 1:23 pm Permalink
As any fule nos, Tooting is one hundred yards in length - 91.44metres.
And it is managed by DC Leisure, not in-house. The difference is that Wandsworth has a competent client team to keep the contractor on their toes.
http://www.dcleisurecentres.co.uk/Centres/Greater+London/Tooting+Bec+Lido/index.html
BTW Visibility at Tooting was disappointingly low this morning after a crazily busy Saturday with the lido filled with folk covered in factor 20. Although this morning was a lot quieter because of the slightly overcast weather, I don’t think we’ll be back to crystal clear water until Tuesday.
It is also sad that they have had to introduce security goons at Tooting for the daytime crowd to check for bottles etc.
11/07/2010 at 7:03 pm Permalink
That being said - Fusion weren’t quite raking it in on June 28th when, having not removed their takings after one of the hottest days of the year… someone else raked it in for them!!
I can’t decamp to Tooting - with my proximity to Brockwell and my membership card - but I have to also say that I love the fact that Tooting has grassy areas and a kid’s pool.
I’m feeling sad about Brockwell - I was just reading a review stating that it is “famed for its community spirit.” Somehow this year that spirit seems to have been broken…
Still the Lido has come back from worse before!
12/07/2010 at 8:40 pm Permalink
Tooting is rather awesome and I’m glad it served you well on your recent visit!
19/08/2012 at 12:23 pm Permalink
I’m a South London Swimming Club member and have a pass to enter the pool. Been coming and going as I please for four years now and it has really suited me to have free access. Just lately, though, those security goons have been pushing their weight around and refusing entry to members through the gate when there is a huge queue to pay at the single turnstile. On arguing the point this morning - politely I might add as I half expected a problem - I was banned - refused entry for today by the jobsworth who runs the place. Not so impressed with DC Leisure.
19/08/2012 at 9:45 pm Permalink
SLSC membership has never officially given priority entry during public opening hours. If it did, then in a summer with good weather it would be worth another hundred quid. Recently it seems a number of “fair weather” SLSC members have been trying it on, and shamelessly queue-jumping at busy times on the few good days there have been this summer.
Would agree that DC Leisure ought to be capable of working out how to open the other pay desk of the architect designed symmetrical entrance on a busy summer weekend, but I suspect they have taken out the tills on the seldom used side.