The Pitt Street Baths

Following a series of sea disasters in which sailors had needlessly died, the Admiralty decided in 1906 that all new recruits should receive swimming and life saving lessons for half an hour per day. In Portsmouth, The Royal Naval School of Physical Training baths were opened as a response in 1910. Cadets were aided by harnesses attached to ropes and poles suspended from the roof. The unusual ironwork this necessitated was to lead to some puzzlement during the later years of the building's life. These baths later became a notable gym and were ultimately demolished in 2008. The author’s mother took gym lessons here in the 1930s and her children attended parties in the 1990s. A real piece of unusual local history has been lost.