Tears of joy for rebirth of Marshall Street baths
Michael Palin and friends celebrate reopening of Soho’s historic Marshall Street baths
Published: 1 October, 2010
by JOSH LOEB
IT was the pool where soldiers prepared for the D-Day landings and where the British swimming team practised for the 1948 Olympics.
And on Friday those with a special place in their hearts for the Marshall Street baths returned to celebrate the Soho institution’s official reopening.
Globe-trotter and patron of Friends of Marshall Street, Michael Palin, gave the £25million refurbishment the thumbs up as fellow campaigners got their first look around the Grade-II listed facility, which has been restored after almost a decade of lying derelict.
Mr Palin said: “I’m delighted these wonderful historic baths have been restored to their former glory. This is a beautiful building, and I’m pleased it’s now back in public use.”
Mayfair-based businesswoman Sue Hudson, one of the founding members of the Friends of Marshall Street, was in tears as she posed for a photo in front of the marble-lined pool.
She said: “The West End Extra was hugely important for our campaign. Until we started out trying to get the baths reopened I hadn’t realised how important the local press was.”
For Gillian Dick, whose father Leonard John David Chelley was baths superintendent at Marshall Street for 20 years, returning was particularly emotional.
The 71-year-old, who was born in Soho, recalled creeping downstairs after closing time to swim with her brother, sometimes rowing out in canoes left by American soldiers. During the war, the soldiers trained there in preparation for the invasion of Europe.
She said: “The soldiers had to swim with their heavy gear across the pool. They had all their clothes on and their helmets. If they were scared, the sergeant in charge would push them in.”
Mrs Dick was pleased to see that the original bronze fountain depicting a merchild with two dolphins – designed by the sculptor Walter Gilbert – had also been restored.
She said: “My father made staff clean him every day. He is wonderful. Daddy was so proud of him and was very concerned that he should be kept, as he is not only valuable but a part of Marshall Street.”
Opened in 1931, the Westminster Public Baths, as the building was then known, originally contained a first and second class swimming bath, a child welfare centre, public laundry and public washing facilities.
Today the Art Deco pool forms part of a larger leisure facility including a gym, sauna and studio space.
The refurbishment was carried out by Westminster City Council in partnership with Marshall Street Regeneration.