Fancy a dip?

Monday 25 November 2019

With plans for the proposed regeneration of La Vallette due to be released this evening, the groups of people who gather to swim at the bathing pools all year-round are hoping they will benefit from what could be coming their way.

The Victorian-era swimming pools and surrounding areas were one of the locations highlighted for possible redevelopment earlier this year by the States.

The plan was for some key locations around St Peter Port to be regenerated using private money. 

Pictured: The States wanted ideas for regenerating parts of the St Peter Port sea front. 

Out of all the ideas which were proposed initially, we've seen further details for the Round Top stores, at the end of the arm on the Crown Pier, which will be utilised as a food outlet and small art gallery if planning permission is given. 

Similarly, Vive La Vallette was given a period of exclusivity to develop plans for the area around the bathing pools and those details are expected to be released at a meeting at Les Cotils tonight. 

Pictured: Vive La Vallette members Dave De La Mare, Dave Warr, Helen Bonner-Morgan, Steve Sherman and Andy Hall. 

If sea-swimming in November isn't your thing, you might incorrectly think the bathing pools are quiet at this time of year. That would be a definite mistake.

Heading down to the bathing pools at lunchtime to try and catch some of the swimmers in action, Express found a number of regulars turning up, stripping off and diving in, on a daily basis. 

Mark Torode is one of them. He says he's just a swimmer - like all the rest of them.

"I go off and do what they call 'marathon swims' but I'm not a marathon swimmer. I am just one of a crowd of people that swim at La Vallette who happen to go off and swim longer swims. 

"The big thing about La Vallette and the bathing pools is the inclusivity of it, and it doesn't matter how old someone is, it doesn't matter what shape they are, it doesn't matter what their abilities are. Ady Sarchet, our very own Guernsey Sea Donkey, could be sitting on the bench getting changed next to an 85-year-old man who has swum there every day for 50 years and they will be chatting away. There is absolutely no distinction between the people down there, they are just all users of the same facility."

Mr Torode, and fellow daily sea swimmer Vanessa Marsh are intrigued by what may be announced at tonight's meeting, but they are hoping some things won't change at the bathing pools, including the fact they are free for anyone to use.

"Yes, obviously there is a cost to maintaining the wonderful facilities there, but the indirect benefit to the island, to the people who go down there, the people who swim there, the health benefits of that...these people aren't a burden to the health services on the island. It has a real positive impact on health and well-being," said Mr Torode.

Ms Marsh said the health benefits of sea-swimming are becoming more well known, so they are seeing more people at the 'pools' on a daily basis.

"More and more people are getting on to it," she said, having been a regular swimmer at La Vallette, and other bays around the island for more than 20 years. "Of all ages as well. I know several young men who are getting into it, because they've got stressful jobs and whatever, and they're benefitting from it." 

Mr Torode said the health benefits are widely reported - for both physical and mental well being. 

"What was a taboo subject ten years ago, with people talking about mental health, now people are very much more open about it. I think that's why we're seeing so many more people down and using cold water immersion therapy. It is therapy for that side of things, and it's been proven to work."

Pictured: Images of the swimmers provided by Vanessa Mash. 

Both Mr Torode and Ms Marsh, and their friends, swim as regularly as they can - often daily. Collectively the group will be represented at tonight's public meeting where the Vive La Vallette plans for the area are to be revealed.

"We're excited to see what they're going to be coming up with, and we're excited to work with them after that, as stakeholders in the area," said Mr Torode.

"For the avoidance of any doubt, we're not against the development of the area at all, we would just like to ensure the community, the swimmers who use the area, that their use of it is respected going forward.

"But if more people can go down and use it, then so much the better for Guernsey."

Ms Marsh said the area is already thriving and she would like to see that use continue. She and Mr Torode highlighted the short-term parking in the area as something which must be preserved.

"A number of members of the swimming community which use the pool on a daily basis are older people, they're in their 80s a lot of them, and to be able to park and to continue to use the facility and not have to walk too far to do that is essential to them. It's very much a part of their world."

Pictured: The regular swimmers at La Vallette who we spoke to are hoping for a positive future for the 'pools'. 

While it is acknowledged the bathing pools and the wider La Vallette area need some attention, it was also highlighted that volunteers currently carry out maintenance on the pool annually. However, both Mr Torode and Ms Marsh said it is known that the pools need some urgent maintenance which can only fall to the States to fund as it will require specialist work to plug the holes in the walls of the structures. 

Pictured top: A group of swimmers including Mark Torode and Vanessa Marsh regularly meet at the Bathing Pools.