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