Bon Accord Baths:
Situated in central Aberdeen sit the once lively Bon Accord Baths.
Back in its heyday, the now-rather dishevelled, chained metal doors would swing wide for the inhabitants of Aberdeen. The 120ft long pool would pullulate with people as the official public baths for the city opened up for both casual swimming and galas. Unfortunately, the view today is a lot less ostentatious; the frippery has been replaced with low-grade graffiti and the water replaced with old items of undesirable domestic furniture.
The Explore:
It was my last day of a 3-day trip to Aberdeen, accompanied with the ever-great @UrbandonedTeam and we were tasked with the infiltration of a major Aberdeen swimming pool without alerting any of the neighbouring hotel staff.
Access was more dirty than anything else, but after finding the most applicable way inside it wasn't too much of a stretch.
The first thing one can't help but appreciate in this place is the sheer size of it. As previously mentioned, the pool is 120ft long (37M) and goes down to 15ft (4.5M) in depth at the far end, so would have provided an unrivalled aquatic experience at the time.
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From the sidelines its apparent this institution could cultivate inimitable talent with its unbelievably high diving board structure and, notably, a sign saying "Spectators Only" which could suggest the onlookers were more aquatic-fanatics than parents watching their child have swimming lessons.
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This is the view from the highest, most unnerving diving board into the seething water below. Even looking back at the photos now I can remember the feelings of deep bewilderment as to how people can jump from such heights with such precision that is found only in videos of expertly choreographed swimming teams.
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Adjourning from the pool, we found ourselves in the changing & shower rooms for the both the saunas and plunge pool. There was lots of natural light in the whole building, but chiefly useful in this area since it's so out of the way of the main pool and since there was no power, it made of excellent photographic opportunity.
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Pictured here is the yellow-tinged plunge pool which has distinctly comparable characteristic to a hot tub, though I'm led to believe the two are different. Regrettably I didn't capture the sign to the right of this photograph which prohibited "petting" in the aforementioned pool.
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Finally we come to the gym changing rooms with the classic peeling paint and concoction of mirrors which even a PPE scholar would struggle to negotiate. I'm a great fan of the colours in this room since it's so different to the rest of the building and looks more modern while still having an archaic tone to it.
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The foregoing changing rooms lead directly through to the gym itself, which I'm pleased to say has very literally damage done to it and still houses the gym equipment, though many of the machines have been degraded and stripped apart since their days in the limelight.
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I'll leave you with my doctored photo of the baths from a high vantage point; I tried to remove as much graffiti as possible to represent the allure, eloquence and majestic charm of this once prominent structure.
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Thanks for reading & I hope you enjoyed!
Situated in central Aberdeen sit the once lively Bon Accord Baths.
Back in its heyday, the now-rather dishevelled, chained metal doors would swing wide for the inhabitants of Aberdeen. The 120ft long pool would pullulate with people as the official public baths for the city opened up for both casual swimming and galas. Unfortunately, the view today is a lot less ostentatious; the frippery has been replaced with low-grade graffiti and the water replaced with old items of undesirable domestic furniture.
The Explore:
It was my last day of a 3-day trip to Aberdeen, accompanied with the ever-great @UrbandonedTeam and we were tasked with the infiltration of a major Aberdeen swimming pool without alerting any of the neighbouring hotel staff.
Access was more dirty than anything else, but after finding the most applicable way inside it wasn't too much of a stretch.
The first thing one can't help but appreciate in this place is the sheer size of it. As previously mentioned, the pool is 120ft long (37M) and goes down to 15ft (4.5M) in depth at the far end, so would have provided an unrivalled aquatic experience at the time.
From the sidelines its apparent this institution could cultivate inimitable talent with its unbelievably high diving board structure and, notably, a sign saying "Spectators Only" which could suggest the onlookers were more aquatic-fanatics than parents watching their child have swimming lessons.
This is the view from the highest, most unnerving diving board into the seething water below. Even looking back at the photos now I can remember the feelings of deep bewilderment as to how people can jump from such heights with such precision that is found only in videos of expertly choreographed swimming teams.
Adjourning from the pool, we found ourselves in the changing & shower rooms for the both the saunas and plunge pool. There was lots of natural light in the whole building, but chiefly useful in this area since it's so out of the way of the main pool and since there was no power, it made of excellent photographic opportunity.
Pictured here is the yellow-tinged plunge pool which has distinctly comparable characteristic to a hot tub, though I'm led to believe the two are different. Regrettably I didn't capture the sign to the right of this photograph which prohibited "petting" in the aforementioned pool.
Finally we come to the gym changing rooms with the classic peeling paint and concoction of mirrors which even a PPE scholar would struggle to negotiate. I'm a great fan of the colours in this room since it's so different to the rest of the building and looks more modern while still having an archaic tone to it.
The foregoing changing rooms lead directly through to the gym itself, which I'm pleased to say has very literally damage done to it and still houses the gym equipment, though many of the machines have been degraded and stripped apart since their days in the limelight.
I'll leave you with my doctored photo of the baths from a high vantage point; I tried to remove as much graffiti as possible to represent the allure, eloquence and majestic charm of this once prominent structure.
Thanks for reading & I hope you enjoyed!
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