Victoria Baths

Victoria Baths is a Grade II* listed building, in the Chorlton-on-Medlock area of Manchester. The Baths opened to the public in 1906 and cost £59,144 to build. Manchester City Council closed the baths in 1993 and the building was left empty. A multi-million pound restoration project began in 2007. As of 2009, the building is on English Heritage’s Heritage at Risk Register.

Every Wednesday from April to October the baths are open with free entry for self-guided tours. We soaked up the history of this beautiful building – the stained glass windows are amazing – before heading to the tearoom for tasty treats.

There are three pools – Males 1st Class, Males 2nd Class and Females – and three separate entrances to the building.

Males 2nd Class Pool

The cubicles in this pool were much narrower than in the 1st Class pool and didn’t have doors – it seems that second class males didn’t need privacy! The pool was converted to a sports hall in the 1980’s.

As most houses didn’t have bathrooms when Victoria Baths was built it was important to ensure that swimmers washed before entering the pool. There were troughs or tubs which were filled with warm water. Soap was provided and showers for rinsing. Although intended for washing, the troughs were also a good place to warm up.

As this pool was an all-male environment, it was not unusual for the boys who didn’t own costumes to swim naked. They would only get embarrassed if one of the female attendants happened to walk in. Then the boys with no costumes on would dive into the water or hide behind their towels!

Females Pool

This is the smallest of the three pools at Victoria baths. It is the most intact of the three pools – you can still see the original stone steps leading into the pool, the stone pool surround, the brass rails and the brass overflow troughs. These are sometimes called spittoons!

The water for Victoria baths came from a well which was especially sunk for the establishment. It is said that the water was first used to fill the Males 1st Class pool, then it was returned to the water tanks, filtered, aerated, re-heated and used in the Males 2nd Class pool, then recycled again and used in the Females pool!

Having the smallest pool and perhaps third-hand water didn’t prevent swimming from being a very popular activity for women and girls in the early 20th century.

More photos can be seen here.

Kenneth Felts

Kenneth Felts is full of pride after coming out in his 90s “I am as happy as I have been for the last 70 years. I just started blooming.” Sifting through old memories during the pandemic, 92-year-old Kenneth Felts found the motivation to come out to his family and friends. See how his journey has inspired others.

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