pool

trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/63615877# - this pic appeared in a photographic montage in the Illustrated Sydney News on 22nd November, 1890... This version looks to be a copy www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum/2430723322/ Possibly the same occasion...from a slightly different position www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum/4903268407/

The town pool built in 1936 saw a number of managers throughout the years, including Allan Scheskie who managed it from about 1942 to 1945. Leigh Gunston (nee Scheskie) recalled that, in the old days when water was pumped from Auckland Creek to fill the pool, she had to blow seaweed away in front of her when breast-stroking. Bill Potter (around 1953), Bob Austin (around 1961), Vince Breslin and Cecil Ringuet were later managers. In early 1959, the Gladstone Town Council voted to allocate 10000 Pounds ($20000) to install a chlorination and filtration plant. There was some opposition to this plan, with some aldermen and citizens expressing the view that the pool was outdated and should be replaced with an Olympic sized pool rather than undergo a renovation. The new pool was not to become a reality for nearly 20 years. Source: gladstonehistoryinc.wordpress.com/entertainment-in-the-ea...

Swimming enclosures built into the river were a simpler and cheaper option to these expensive floating and land-based pools but it was not until the early 20th century that they proliferated. They were scattered along the river – Sherwood, Dutton Park, Davies Park, Mowbray Park, Balmoral and some private schools built their own. The remains of one could be seen in the river at the foot of Lourdes Hill College into the 1970s. The pools at Dutton Park, Davies Park and Mowbray Park were all provided by the South Brisbane City Council, which existed between 1888 and 1925. This was their attempt to provide free, universal access to bathing facilities for their constituents, possibly in an attempt to establish their dominance over their north Brisbane rivals. This was also the period during which the Surf Life Saving movement began. Over many years Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast clubs had Brisbane-based training facilities. In fact, the surf life-saving club at Burleigh Heads still retains the title ‘Mowbray Park – Burleigh Heads SLSC’, having been founded at Mowbray Park in the 1920s. Source: www.secretbrisbane.com.au/home/2017/6/29/brisbanes-love-a...