In 1963 Sawtry got a new comprehensive school, Sawtry Village College, what we now know today as the Sawtry Academy.  Sawtry Village Collage improved the lives of village folk as it became a hub for the Community, holding village organisation meetings, community events and highly successful local community college classes, something that is greatly missed to this day. However the village of Sawtry was sadly lacking in leisure amenities.  In late 1963, the idea was put forward that we should have a swimming pool built on the grounds of Sawtry Village College for school use but open to the public as well.  It would be used In school term during the day for school purposes and evenings and weekends it would be open to the public, which I think was later expanded to early morning sessions as well.

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            In my childhood, if we wanted to go swimming the nearest place to go was the Lido at Peterborough.  People in Sawtry, were very pleased with the idea of having a swimming pool in their own village.  Fundraising began in ernest. Many local organizations put on events with the proceeds going to the Swimming Pool Fund.  I myself lived in the Prefabs in the 1960’s and as a community there we put on plays, organized by our parents, in what was then the Church Schoolroom on Church Street, we also had a Queen of the May Parade which was a local tradition at that time and a bonfire party on a piece of waste ground near the Prefabs called the Rubble where cottages had been knocked down and where our parents helped us organize the bonfire event with proceeds going to the Swimming Pool Fund. That was just one group in the community, there was things going on like that all over the village to raise money. The village finally raised enough money for the pool and building began. It was completed in 1964 and was a huge success.   So many people in the village, myself included, learnt to swim in the little pool before progressing on to the big pool, probably saving some lives into the bargain. We held swimming galas. I am 72 now and I still have my little trophies I won at the Swimming Gala in 1965. Does anyone else remember that? I can remember that when I was at Sawtry Village Collage some of our art classes were spent painting the inside of the swimming pool blue.

          Now I believe the Swimming pool has now closed due  to “financial pressures”  unfortunately it wasn’t used as much as it should have been that is in part due to bad marketing and management, I believe but it is a part of Sawtry’s history and I feel it should have been preserved. There was a petition at Change.org to  “Save Sawtry Swimming Pool”  and local residents did their best to try and save it, however their efforts came to nought.

 

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Marilyn Townsend Gautreaux