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17
Jul 2022
Decades before Sylvia Grice MBE started teaching generations of Ripon children how to swim in the city's Spa Baths, the lessons were more rudimentary.
Among the overgrown trees, grass and plants that crowd a bank-side section of the Ure, retired postman John Heselton, has uncovered a rusty riverside relic.
The mystery object serves as a reminder of childhood experiences in Victorian and Edwardian times that would be frowned upon in today's more safety-conscious society.
He pointed out:
With the Skell, Laver and a canal adding to Ripon's network of natural and man-made waterways, there has always been a need to teach children and adults a skill that could one day save their life or the lives of others.
John Heselton, with a black and white photograph of the pavilion, is pictured next to the pulley that was used as a safety device.
He added:
Though the teaching method was basic, the same does not apply to the swimming pavilion itself, which was a grand purpose-built facility, as Mr Heselton discovered.
A detail in a wall (pictured below) first indicated to him that it was more than a boundary to a riverside residence.
He said:
Like all good detectives, Mr Heselton looked for further evidence on the other side of the wall and the pulley system provided another vital clue about the previous use of this area, where the Ure broadens out to form a natural lido.
The 'sink or swim' childhood experience was confirmed by local people he had come to know during the 20 years that he served as a postman in Ripon.
Now, the missing pieces of the jigsaw have been put into place in a fascinating compilation of facts and photographs that the history and nature lover has painstakingly assembled.
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