Fun in Highworth pool at last

3:40pm Wednesday 27th August 2008

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IT might have got off to a cool start but youngsters have flooded Highworth Recrea-tion Centre’s newly opened swimming pool since it opened at the weekend.

The £1.4m pool – replacing the open air one – was completed last month.

But the grand opening ceremony was delayed when the pool’s temperature unexpectedly dropped six degrees below temperature guidelines.

There were a few minor grumbles about the pool being cold as the Bank Holiday weekend drew to a close but that didn’t stop scores of families making use of the improved facility.

George Tait, 71, travelled up from Bournemouth to visit the pool his Highworth relatives had told him so much about.

“I wanted to see what all the fuss is about,” he said.

“I really like it and it is great that it is indoors because it stops older people like me getting cold when they get in and out of the pool.”

But for George the pool signifies something a lot more essential for a small community like Highworth.

“Our pool closed down in Bournemouth and the kids have been misbehaving ever since,” he said.

“We have seen a rise in crime and graffiti and a lot more of this anti-social behaviour.

“I’m not saying that is a problem in Highworth but this gives the younger people a place to go and have fun and keeps them out of trouble.”

George’s 13-year-old great niece Emily Soule said she had barely set foot out of the pool since she arrived.

“I was in the pool for at least 90 minutes before I got out,” she said.

“A friend of mine was in there for four hours on the day it opened.

“It’s a great place to come and spend your spare time, especially on the Bank Holiday or summer holidays.”

Dad Colin, 50, from The Dormers, in Highworth, said the newly improved pool was the result of a huge community effort.

He said: “I have lived in the town for 22 years and have seen the affection for the pool as well as the efforts to see it restored.

“We have helped in the fundraising efforts and I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone that hasn’t.”