LESSON 14 – RATIONAL
BATHING AND SWIMMING
IN POST INDUSTRIAL
COMMUNITIES
TASK…..
• DESIGN A COMPREHENSIVE MIND MAP
TO EXPLAIN HOW SWIMMING AND
BATHING DEVELOPED AS A RATIONAL
RECREATIONAL ACTIVITY.
• BEFORE DOING SO, TAKE NOTE OF THE
FOLLOWING:
HOW?
• WHAT SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS
TOOK PLACE AND WHAT FACTORS
INFLUENCED THE DEVELOPMENT OF
SWIMMING AND BATHING?
HOW WAS SOCIETY CHANGING?
• TRAINS
• RULES/LAW AND ORDER
• RESPECT – GOVERNING BODIES OF
SPORT
• INDUSTRIALISATION?
WATER CURE……
• – A BELIEF IN THE THERAPEUTIC
EFFECTS OF IMMERSION IN WATER.
– INLAND SPAS DEVELOPED AND
GREW INTO LARGE PRESTIGIOUS
RESORTS FOR THE WELL OFF. –
THESE WERE CHOSEN FOR SIGHTS
FOR SCHOOLS ( FOR EXAMPLE, THE
COLLEGES OF CLIFTON,
CHELTENHAM AND MALVERN).
• THE GENTRY MOVED TO CONTINENTAL
•
SPAS AND TO THE SEASIDE – COLD SALT
WATER HAVING THE MOST EFFECT.
RESTRICTIVE ETHICS OF THE VICTORIAN
ERA, BEACHES WERE DESIGNATED AS
SOCIALLY EXCLUSIVE AND SINGLE SEXED
TO ENSURE MODESTY AND
RESPECTABILITY.
• DEVELOPMENT OF BATHING
MACHINES GAVE BATHER SOME
PRIVACY – WOODEN HUTS TOWED
INTO THE SEA – ALSO ALLOWED
MIXED BATHING!
SEASIDE……
• ‘TAKING THE WATERS’ BECAME A REGENCY FASHION AND
LED TO SPA TOWNS BEING BUILT WITH EXTENSIVE
BATHING FACILITIES.
• 1870s – THE RAILWAY NETWORK BROUGHT THE WORKING
CLASS TO THE SEASIDE SEEKING HEALTH AND
RECREATION AS WELL AS COPYING THE UPPER CLASSES.
• BATHING FACILITIES IN RIVER TOWNS
•
HAD STARTED TO BECOME ORGANISED.
SWIMMING BECAME FASHIONABLE FOR
THE MIDDLE CLASS, AND AMATEUR
SWIMMING AS AN ORGANISED
COMPETITIVE EVENT BEGAN WITH THE
FORMATION OF CLUBS.
BATHS WERE OPENED….
• Only wealthy people could afford bathrooms
• First public baths were opened in Liverpool in
•
1828
The baths and Wash Houses Act of 1846 was
really the start of bathing and swimming in
industrial Britain
EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIALISATION..
• INDUSTRIALISATION AND URBANISATION LED
•
•
TO OVERCROWDING AND DISEASE. 1846
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT ATTEMPTED TO IMPROVE
HYGIENE WITH ITS WASH HOUSE ACTS – LOANS
OFFERED TO MAJOR TOWN TO BUILD PUBLIC
BATHS.
THESE HAD FIRST-CLASS FACILITIES! THERE
WERE THOSE PLUNGE BATHS WHICH ALLOWED
THE WORKING CLASS TO WASH THEMSELVES
AND THEIR CLOTHES.
Plunge pools facilitated the development
swimming clubs and galas
CLUBS FORMED……
• 1869 – MIDDLE-CLASS SWIMMING CLUBS ESTABLISHED
LAWS FOR AMATEUR SWIMMING AND IN 1874 THEY
FORMED THE SWIMMING ASSOCIATION OF GB. WHICH
BECAME ASA. IN 1884. BY 1902 THERE WERE MORE THAN
500 CLUBS BELONGING TO THE ASSOCIATION.
• WATER POLO MAINLY DEVELOPED IN THE PUBLIC BATHS
AND WAS CODIFIED IN 1885. THE AMATEUR DIVING
ASSOCIATION WAS NOT FORMED UNTIL 1901
• BY 1880s EXCLUSIVITY HAD DIMINISHED AND SWIMMING
AND WATER POLO CLUBS WERE BECOMING ESTABLISHED
FOR THE WORKING CLASS.
IN SUMMARY:
• TOWNS GREW AS A RESULT OF INDUSTRIALISATION
• 1848 – PUBLIC HEALTH ACT – BUILT PUBLIC BATHS TO
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
HELP STOP THE SPREAD OF DISEASE.
INTEREST FREE LOANS FROM GOVERNMENT
INDUSTRIAL TOWNS BUILT PENNY BATHS, ON CONDITION
THAT WORKERS ONLY PAID ONE PENNY FOR USE.
RECREATIONAL
SPA WATER CURE
SEA-SIDE
PUBLIC BATHS
INCREASE WORK EFFICIENCY.
WERE USED FOR WASHING PLEASURE AND SPORT.
HOMEWORK:
• WHAT MAIN FACTORS HAVE HELPED THE DEVELOPMENT OF
SWIMMING IN THE UK AND WHAT IMPACT HAVE THEY HAD ON
CONTEMPORY PARTICIPATION AND PERFORMANCE?
• WHAT FACTORS MIGHT BE A BARRIER TO PARTICIPATION IN
SWIMMING TODAY?
EXTRA:
• 2012 PUBLIC SWIMMING TO BE FREE
• OVER 60s ARE NOW FREE
• 2 MILLION MORE PEOPLE TO GET
INVOLVED IN SPORT
• VERY ACCESSIBLE TO ALL PEOPLE