Middle Street Primary School also used North Road Baths for swimming lessons and I also got my 10 yards and 25 yards there. Years later, as a University student, I had a summer job with the Corporation, part of which involved shovelling some sort of clinker out of a huge metal tank in the basement that was something to do with the filtration system. Being a pool man at Black Rock Pool, which is where we were sent after we had emptied the tank (we were never asked to fill it up again, for some reason) - was far better.

Like both Adrian and Ruth, I went to both Middle Street and Downs schools as a child in the late 50s/60s. I lived in Cannon Place at the time before Churchill square was built. I remember many happy days in North Road baths but I took my 10 yards certificate at St Lukes pool having to swim in a diagonal route across the pool as it was not 10 yds wide. In the North Road baths I also remember the communial changing rooms at the shallow end and the unforgettable smell of chlorine. There was also a diving board at the deep end but it was very rarely open due to health and safety (even in those days). Later years I joined BSClub and enjoyed many galas and water polo matches at North Road. It was nice to see the polo net hanging in the photo. The changing cubicles were boys on the right side looking towards the shallow end and girls on the left. I also remember when it was cold outside the heat of the water caused steam so as at times we couldn't see the deep end from the shallow end. Nightmare for lifeguards if we had them then. Happy days!

I learnt to swim in the late 1960s at the North Road Baths with my best friend Richard Payne when we were about 7 years old. Our fathers used to take turns to drive us from Hassocks to the North Road Baths for the weekly swimming lesson. Afterwards we always had chips to aleviate the hunger from the effort expelled. I eventually managed to conquer the front crawl so the effort paid off. It's great to see some old photos, they really take me back.

Happy days. I too learnt to swim there back in the 1945-6. We used to walk from Ditchling Road school and back for swimming lessons. Seems like yesterday looking at the photo. I remember the foot bath was always freezing but not long after the war had ended it was really great to have that facility as spartan as it was.