Glynde Community Pool

News, events and lots more

2015

We Love (Supreme) tea and cake

During the Love Supreme Jazz Festival on the 3-5th July we will be running a tea and cake stall at Glynde Station to raise funds for the pool. Stocked with lots of homemade goodies – and hopefully fresh picked strawberries - we hope to tempt festival-goers as they arrive off the trains and wait for their transport up the hill.

This is a really good opportunity to raise much needed funds but we need help!! If you can do some baking or spare an hour or two to help on the stall (running approx 10.30am – 5.30pm Sat and Sun) it would be hugely appreciated. Please get in touch with Rikki Begley on 07590 724646 or comradebegley@gmail.com.

An indulgent evening of pampering

Relaxed and dreamy looking people were seen ambling from Little Cottage Tea rooms on a recent sunny evening after being gloriously pampered. From head massages to reflexology, skin consultations to tarot readings, practitioners kindly gave of their time to raise money for the pool. Wonderfully organised by Debbie, who also provided nibbles, Pimms and wine, the balmy evening was a lovely social occasion where - between pamperings - we could compare what we do (or don't do!) to look after ourselves. Over £160 was raised for the pool and huge thanks are due to Debbie for hosting and the practitioners who took part.

The Pool is open!!

The pool opened on 23rd May and is looking lovely. Temperatures to start with were a bit on the parky side but that didn't stopped the hardier amongst us from swimming. More recently they have regularly been hitting the 23°C mark and are rising! The new turf is soft and perfect for lounging on with a picnic. Thanks to everyone who has joined so far – for those that haven't, it's an easy process via our membership page. Happy swimming everyone!

Pool Cleaning Day

This will be on Saturday 25th April from 10am onwards. Do come along for however much time you can spare, to help scrub, paint, weed and spruce up the pool and its surrounds ready for the 2015 Season. There will be lots of friendly faces – and lots of tea and cake! Please wear old clothes and bring gloves if you have them.

Pool Opening

We are aiming to open the Pool on Saturday 23rd May! Fingers crossed for a sunny spell to warm up the water... You will be able to join, or renew your membership, online from the end of April.

Cheese and Wine Evening

Maggie Wilson has kindly organised this fundraising evening on Friday 1st May from 7pm. It will take place at their lovely home in Beddingham and tickets cost £8 to include your first glass of wine and all food (further drinks by donation). So buy a ticket, come along and eat delicious food (Maggie is rumoured to be going to France to get supplies!) in great company whilst supporting the Pool.

Tickets available from Glynde or Firle Stores, or from Maggie on 01273 858659, 07760 176644 or MMagswilson@aol.com. Limited parking available, but it's easy to park at the church and walk down.

Friends of the Pool

We have set up a Friends of the Pool scheme so members can contribute some of their time to help keep the pool going. This is a flexible group who simply share names and contact details, and are prepared to help out with tasks or initiate something themselves. We're hoping people can be more involved in a way that fits with their skills and available time – and is fun and manageable. Fundraising is our most pressing need and we hope the group will take up this baton, but there are lots of other things that need doing too from gardening to research, making cakes to delivering leaflets! If you would like to become a Friend please email jane@in4action.com

Donate a book for the Pool

Thanks to Helen and the good folk at the Trevor, we have set up a book shelf whereby people can pick up a novel and donate some money to the Pool. So if you fancy a good read pop along and see what is on offer... and if you have any novels you no longer want (that are in reasonable condition) please take them to the Pub to help support this scheme. We're hoping this will be a permanent feature that will bring a steady trickle of funds in.

AGM

Our AGM took place on the 28th January and most of the Committee remained in post. However, Andrew Lusted stepped down as Chairman so this post is now vacant, and Diane Challen stepped down from the Committee. We thank both of them for all their incredibly hard work over the years, especially running the membership side of things which is a pretty major task! It was decided to raise membership fees a small amount - by £2 for adults and £1 for children, in an attempt to keep up with ever increasing basic costs (chemicals, electricity and insurance). It was also noted that some serious fundraising needs to take place: for the shortfall between membership income and basic costs; to have better contingency for emergencies; and for depreciation of equipment so that when the time comes to replace it the money is available.



2014

Winter Closure 2014

We have now closed the pool for the winter as the nights are much colder and the temperature of the water had got pretty parky for all but the hardiest swimmers. We didn't have the longest season but we must surely have been one of the warmest! For around 9 weeks from mid June to mid August the hot days and warm nights meant the water rarely dropped below 23-24 degrees C and was regularly higher, peaking one day at nearly 28 degrees C!

It's been great seeing so many people enjoying the pool this summer: thanks for all your support. Work will go on behind the scenes through the winter, not least in trying to replenish funds spent on the replastering – any help, fundraising initiatives or donations would be much appreciated! We'll aim to open in early May 2015 – keep an eye on this website for details of membership, events and other updates.

Up, running... and glorious!

The pool finally opened on Saturday 14th June - thank you everyone for your patience during the building works, and we hope you think it is worth it. We were lucky in that temperatures during the days immediately after filling it were well in the twenties, with warm nights, so the water was a lovely 25°C the day we opened. And we have been enjoying pretty consistently high temperatures and sunshine ever since!

Many apologies to some of you who struggled with the on-line renewals – there was a glitch in the system on some records which led to you not being recognised which is now fixed. Thanks for your patience – and perseverance. It will be easier next year!

If you haven't joined already, please do! Details are available on our membership page and a key will be waiting for you in Glynde Stores two days later – there are weeks and weeks of lovely swimming still to go...

Opening Very Soon...

We're nearly there! We turned the tap on at the pool yesterday (Sat 7th June) and it should take three to four days to fill. We're hoping to get it all set up this week ready to open next weekend (14/15th). As soon as it is ready we'll send out an email to all 2014 members to let you know.

Our sincere apologies for the delay in opening and many thanks for your patience – it's been quite a long haul this spring, getting all the work done then scrubbing and painting it (some Forth Bridge moments!). We went as fast as we could, weather – and the rest of life – permitting, and we hope you'll like it.

We'll be in touch soon...

Pool partially scrubbed of brown algal sludge! Some of the work at one end of the pool The pool filling up....
Pool partially scrubbed of brown algal sludge! Some of the re-rendering work The pool filling up....

Mid May Update on the Pool Repairs

Our apologies that the pool is not open yet, especially as the weather has turned hot and thoughts have turned to swimming! We are getting there!! The replastering of patches of the pool - which was quite extensive - is being finished off today (17th May). They have done a beautiful job, and once the plaster has "gone off" we will paint it and then fill it which should all take another 2-3 weeks.

We had planned to get on with all this earlier but were delayed by the record breaking rainfall through the winter. This meant the water table in the surrounding ground was so high that there was a strong possibility the sides of the pool would cave in from the weight of water in the surrounding soil if we emptied it. So, we had to wait and wait... But now we're cracking on as fast as we can - cross your fingers for dry weather and watch this space for more updates...

Pool Cleaning Day

This took place on 26th April and despite a wet forecast we had a dry, partly sunny and very productive day. Lots of people turned out to help, and work included washing and painting the changing rooms, rubbing down the shed, scrubbing the terraces and copious weeding. Much cake was consumed, and a nesting mallard was discovered in the nettles and left well alone to sit on her large blue eggs. Huge thanks to everyone who turned out, rolled their sleeves up and - in some cases - got covered in paint!

A New Year

Happy New Year to everyone! There is much to be done over the winter and the Pool Committee continue to meet and plan through the winter months. The recent wild winds have already brought the fence down once - many thanks to all those who came along to help concrete in new posts and put it back up! This spring we will need to carry out repairs to the plaster of the pool and we also need to focus on fundraising opportunities.

AGM - 2014

We had a successful AGM on Wednesday 5th February and warmly welcomed several new members to our team! Siobhan handed over the Treasurer role to John's safe hands, and Diane stepped down from running the membership side of things: both Siobhan and Diane are gratefully thanked for all their hard work over the years. The full Committee list can be found here. If anyone would like to see the full financial report, or the Chairman's report, please get in touch with Jane Stevens. We also debated and decided upon this years membership fees, which have increased slightly for adults but decreased for children.



2013

A 110 year retrospection

We would like to put on an exhibition in the spring of 2014 to celebrate the pool and its long history. We will need to collaborate to make this a success so if you have, or know anyone who has, any pool-related stories, photos, memorabilia, paintings, anything at all, please do get in touch with Helen at helenwormald@hotmail.co.uk. We'd love to hear from people from across the ages - whether you've only been in the village a wee while or you swam amongst the frogs back in the 1930s!

Winter Closure 2013

After a brilliant summer the pool closed for the winter at the end of September. We hope you enjoyed it and thank you for all your support. Much work will go on behind the scenes throughout the winter: the plaster in the pool needs repairing and we need to do some serious fundraising. Any fundraising ideas or donations will be much appreciated - we are only a small band of volunteers who all have busy lives and we welcome any help you can give!

We will be aiming to open as usual early in May 2014. Keep an eye on this site for details of membership sessions, online joining and how you can help get the pool ready for opening.

12th August - Pool Now Open!

We're pleased to say that the algae situation has been sorted and the pool is now open again.

We are very sorry for the temporary closure but it was essential from a safety point of view. Many thanks to everyone for bearing with us and for your patience over the last 6 days.

Enjoy swimming for the rest of the season!

5th August - Pool Temporarily Closed

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Many apologies but we are having to temporarily close the swimming pool. The levels of algae have built up in the last few days and we need to sort this out before people can swim again. We think this is due to the very hot weather in July, and know other outdoor pools are having the same problem.

We very much hope it will only take a few days and will be in touch - keep an eye on this website for updates.

Pool Open for 2013 Season

After a flurry of activity during March and April the pool opened as planned on Sunday 28th April – a glorious sunny day that saw at least five swimmers taking the plunge despite the water not having had much chance to warm up! Thank you to all those that came along to membership evenings and renewed/joined: if you missed these you can join online here and pick your key up from the membership secretary (please call 858401 to arrange a time).

Some changes this year include the introduction of some Adult sessions which we are trialling in response to requests by adult members who would like a quiet swim. We have tried to make these at times when the pool is least used by families: please see our membership page for details. We welcome your feed back as to whether this works for everyone.

We had an excellent Pool Cleaning Day at the beginning of April with lots of wonderful people coming along to scrub, scrape, paint, weed, mow and generally get things ready – the sun shone and much cake was consumed. Very many thanks to everyone who contributed – it really does make a huge difference being able to spread the load, making it more enjoyable for everyone. Thanks also to those who have put in a lot of hard graft on other days, not least for the concrete mixing epic!

AGM

We held our AGM on 6 February at Glynde Social Club. Most members were re-elected to their roles, however we are sorry to say goodbye to Hannah Messer but hope she will return when she has more time. We were also grateful to those members of the public who attended and supported us. The full committee list can be seen here on our Committee page.

We welcome new committee members, or any help at all, to keep our pool going. Please contact Helen (07816 749516 ) or Jane (858227) if you can spare even the occasional hour, we'd love to hear from you!

Wishing you a very Happy New Year and 2013!

As we enter the new year the Pool Committee continues to meet, plan and work towards the next pool season - it may be cold and sodden out there now but those summer days will hopefully be back, and more plentiful in number than last year!



2012

Pool Closure

The pool will be closed for the winter from the 23rd September. The night time temperatures have dropped and it is too cold for all but the most stalwart of swimmers. Apologies in advance if we get a freak "hot" spell in October! We will be carrying out maintenance and repairs through the winter and will of course be working towards opening again at the beginning of May. Watch out for information re Pool Cleaning Day in April, and of course membership sessions!

A glorious sunny Try Dive....

The amazing world of scuba-diving
The amazing world of scuba-diving

...happened on Saturday 18th of August, one of the hottest days this year. A steady stream of participants of all ages came along to try out scuba diving and everyone seemed to enjoy the experience. A wonderful team of friendly instructors came along from Newhaven Dive Club and kindly gave all their time, equipment and tuition for free. We raised nearly £150 for the pool - and much fun was had - and tea and cake consumed!

An Evening of Opera at Glynde Place

Glasses of champagne and trays of canapes, followed by an inspirational performance of world-class opera in the Marble Hall at Glynde Place made for a truly wonderful evening on Saturday 5th May. The singers - Paul Austin Kelly, Elizabeth Brice, Thomasin Trezise and Louise Moseley - were outstanding. So much of the evening's progamme of opera classics and West End hits had the audience enthralled, but 11-year-old Louise's extraordinary voice was particularly special. They were supported by Nancy Cooley's stunning piano playing and Michael Bulman's kindly, knowlegable and amusing comparing of the event. Despite arriving and leaving in a biting north easterly wind, those who came hugely enjoyed the occasion, particularly the ones sat near the roaring log fires!

Enormous thanks are due to Liz Brice for initiating the event and organising the whole programme; to all the performers for their brilliant contributions; to Francis and Caroline Hampden for welcoming us into their home for the evening and for all their support and help in putting the event together; to numerous villagers for organisational help; and to all those that donated wonderful prizes for the raffle, particularly Gus Christie for very special Glyndebourne tickets. The event has raised nearly £2,500 for the Pool which is absolutely fantastic.

Doubling our money!

The Sussex Community Foundation matched giving initiative at the beginning of March was a resounding success and huge thanks are due to many people across the parishes, along with our Parish News, for their very generous donations. With matched funding and gift aid, donations of around £2,500 were doubled to over £5,000!! This is a wonderful result and will help replenish our funds which were at rock bottom after last years expenditure. Our grateful thanks to all of you, and to the SCF for enabling us to be part of this. Our webpage will remain up at www.localgiving.com/glyndepool and any donations made through it will be eligible for gift aid.