Easter Activities at The Angel Centre

Keeping the children entertained over the Easter holidays is easy at The Angel Centre will be offering supervised day care for eight to twelve year olds from 1 to 12 April with Day Camps, Half Day Camps and two hour Drop In sessions offering a range of activities including sports and team games, swimming, arts and crafts and film time.

Tonbridge Swimming Pool will be opening its heated outdoor pool on Friday 29 March complete with beach area for the very young and interactive water arch, and on offer are a range of holiday swimming courses for children aged four to eleven years old. The Games Hut at Tonbridge Racecourse Sportsground will also be open with its children’s play area, mini golf course and bouncy castle.  

You can now sign up online or by phone to automatically receive details of the Holiday Programmes taking place at The Angel Centre.  Anyone signing up online will also receive a £7 Family Swim Voucher.        

For more information, please contact the Angel Centre on 01732 359966 or Tonbridge Swimming Pool on 01732 367449 or visit www.angelcentre.co.uk/hp  or www.tonbridgepool.co.uk/hp 

Tonbridge Daily Photo

Tonbridge Daily Photo #141

Leaning Tree of Tonbridge

I was out this morning enjoying the sunshine in the Sportsground and took this photograph from the bridge by the swimming pool.  It wasn't until it was downloaded that I noticed one tree is seriously leaning towards the river. I'm not quite sure how I didn't spot it at the time, but it's definitely at a very strange angle.

Recognising Tonbridge Recognised

No sooner was photo on the blog, the place where the owl sits was recognised by Andy. There were also a number of correct sightings through Twitter - the first coming through from Peter @greenhares.

The spot is of course at the side of Tonbridge swimming pool near to the moat and the little bridge, and if you look between the trees the owl will be visible on the roof.  Why is it there? I have no idea. Perhaps it's to scare away pigeons. Please comment below if you know the answer.

Canoe Mystery Solved

After a number of ideas of where this picture was taken, it seems the most popular answer was that it is on a part of the river that curves around the park ... a small building can be seen in the distance on the right, next to a footbridge, which is probably part of the old open-air swimming pool. The new building now fills the space to the bridge.


The canoe is positioned close to the newer wooden bridge that leads from the model steam railway track,which would now be in the distance behind the boys, to the inner park playing fields and former racecourse.


Thanks for all the input and the photos that were sent in to solve the mystery.

Identical spot 2012

Tonbridge Daily Snippet

A dispute on the introduction of mixed bathing at Tonbridge swimming pool in 1910 caused national attention.

SWIMATHON

NEWS RELEASE

Swimathon raises over £10,000 for charity
Swimathon 2011 took place at Larkfield Leisure Centre and Tonbridge Swimming Pool on
Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 April. Over 80 people took part in this year’s event across both sites
and raised an amazing £10, 464 for Marie Curie Cancer Care and the Swimathon Foundation.
Congratulations and thanks go to all those who took part.
580 swimming pools across the UK supported this event and raised a total of £1.7 million for the
two charities. Research carried out by the Swimathon Foundation into event participation rates
showed encouraging results:
* 9% of participants started swimming following entry into Swimathon
* 81% increased or maintained the number of times they swim each week
* 90% increased or maintained the length of time they swim each session
The statistics clearly show that Swimathon events encourage people to start swimming and to
swim more often.
Gary Littlejohn, General Manager for Tonbridge Pool said: "We were really pleased by the
number of swimmers who took part this year. Participants had a lot of fun whilst raising money for
good causes. I would encourage others to consider taking part in the 2012 event – both Larkfield
Leisure Centre and Tonbridge Swimming Pool will be running sessions on Saturday 28 and
Sunday 29 April.”
Swimathon 2012 swimmer entry will open in January when you can register online by visiting
www.swimathon.org, or pick up a registration form at reception.

Cowsheds

A 'snap' taken in the early 1960's has surfaced showing the infamous cold and drafty changing rooms at Tonbridge swimming pool known as the 'cowsheds'. Apparently the gap at the bottom of the cubicle was notoriously unpopular because of the view from the swimming pool.

circa 1962

A Century of Swimming

A pool has been available to the people of Tonbridge for over 100 years - first built in 1910 it was replaced by the present pool in 1993