Moseley Swimming Baths.
So while on the tour bus around Birmingham on a particular weekend that many others appeared to be in the area, causing all sorts of bother with road closures and cranes etc. some of us were having a merry old day of fail after fail, wrong directions and a distinct lack of any ninja skills until we stumbled across this lovely place. Luckily a couple chanced a look and smug grins ensued, so naturally we all bundled in until TLR got busted on his own. Visited with AK, Stig, JuJu, Wombat, TLR, KM punk, and a few others whom I've managed to forget your forum names - shameful I know, you can slap me at the next meet.
History bit,
Moseley Road Baths opened on October 30th 1907 at a cost of £32,924. It is the oldest of only three Grade II* Listed swimming baths currently operating in Britain (those at the privately-owned RAC Club in London and The National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace being the other two). Moseley Road is a window on a lifestyle that was common to millions of Britons at the turn of the 19th century.
Unquestionably one of Birmingham's finest and most treasured buildings, Moseley Road Baths contains several rare or unique features, including:
- The only complete set of pre-war private washing, or 'slipper' baths extant in Britain (46 in total), still with the original oak ticket office and attendants' kiosks largely intact.
- A three-sided spectator gallery and unique balconettes in the Gala (or First Class) Pool as well as the original poolside arched glazed brick dressing boxes.
- A 98ft long Gothic renaissance red brick and terracotta frontage, lavishly embellished and decorated.
- Possibly the only surviving steam-heated drying racks in a British swimming baths, sited in the First Floor laundry room.
- The original 45,000-gallon capacity cast iron cold water storage tank.
Its future is now very much in doubt with calls to transfer ownership from local authority control and convert the building, or at least large parts of it, to uses unconnected with swimming or fitness. The option of a replacement baths in the Balsall Heath district seems unrealistic, for reasons of both finance and a shortage of available land. Yet Moseley Road Baths is a large building, with much unused and vacant space that has the potential to be converted to uses complimentary to the primary purpose of swimming.
Finally on with some pics, not too many though.
Thanks for looking.
you've got some shots no one else have 
