Finchley Lido facts for kids
Finchley Lido is a fun place in the London Borough of Barnet, near North Finchley. It's a big complex with lots to do! You can find a swimming pool, a leisure centre, a cinema, restaurants, and even a bowling alley there. It's super popular, especially on weekends, because it's one of the main places to watch movies in this part of North London.
A Look Back: Finchley Lido's History
The Finchley Open Air Pool was designed by P T Harrison from the Finchley Borough Council. The main heated pool first opened its doors on September 17, 1931. It stayed open for a couple of months that year. The next year, on March 26, 1932, it officially opened. A special event happened on April 22, 1932, when the Duke of York (who later became King George VI) unveiled a special wall tablet made of Staffordshire marble. You can still see this tablet today behind the counter of the Nando's restaurant, which was built around the original site.
The main heated pool was very large, measuring about 50 metres (165 feet) long and 24 metres (80 feet) wide. It was between 1 metre (3 feet) and 3 metres (10 feet) deep and had two fountains. This huge pool could hold over 1.7 million litres (456,250 gallons) of water! It also had a diving area with a two-stage platform.
The whole area of Finchley Lido covered about 2.8 hectares (7 acres). There was even a car park with a uniformed attendant, which was quite fancy for 1932. The main building also had a burglar alarm for safety. The car park was made even bigger in 2004 after the original cinema on the north side of the site was taken down because of a big flood.
Finchley Lido holds a special record! On July 11, 1971, an amazing 11,962 people visited the Lido in one day. This is still the highest number of visitors ever recorded for a lido (an outdoor swimming pool complex) in the UK in a single day.
The original outdoor pool from the 1930s, which is no longer there, was surrounded by beautiful Roman-style columns and had fountains. This historic pool was even used for the men's water polo games during the 1948 Summer Olympics! The original site, with its main pool and a children's pool, closed down in 1992.
What's at Finchley Lido Today?
Today, Finchley Lido is a modern leisure complex with many popular places to visit:
- Nando's
- McDonald's
- Swimming pool
- Holiday Inn
- Vue Cinema
- Pizza Hut
- Hollywood Bowl (for bowling fun!)
- Cafe
- Ask Italian
