Lido Guide: Jesus Green

Jesus Green, the 100 yard pool in Cambridge, turns 100 years old this summer. Author of The Lido Guide, Emma Pusill introduces us to this historic pool. 

There’s not a lot of precedent for lidos celebrating a centenary, so this summer the gorgeous, tree-sheltered 100-yard-long Jesus Green will join a select band that includes Pells Pool, Buckfastleigh Open Air Pool, Gourock Pool and just a handful more. We can’t know whether they’ll get a telegram from the King, but they really should – sustaining a lido for a century, through world wars, the pandemic and numerous other challenges is no mean feat and deserves celebrating.

And right across summer 2023 that is just what the Friends of Jesus Green committee, in collaboration with the operator Better (GLL) and the site owner Cambridge City Council, intend to do. 

Nicky Blanning, one of the Friends committee members, said that they enjoy a great relationship with both Better and the council. She summed up the Friends’ role in three words:

• Community: drawing together the large community of people who use the pool, not all of whom  are swimmers.
• Voice: representing those users in discussions with Better and the council.
• Legacy: doing whatever they can to ensure that Jesus Green survives, thrives and can celebrate a  second centenary.

Celebrating with one huge extended party

Jesus Green sees its first centenary as cause for a huge extended party. That kicks off on 10 June 2023 with the pool’s first ever live theatrical performance – a one man show called ‘Nothing Great Is Easy’ based, of course, on Captain Webb’s achievement as being the first man to swim the English Channel. Excitingly, and unusually for lido live performances, some of the action takes place on a platform on the water – particularly fitting given that the lido was built to mirror the river it sits alongside as a means of providing a safer place for swimmers. 

Following that will be a wide variety of events including a film screening in collaboration with Anglia Ruskin university students, school children being invited to design a centenary postcard, the production of a book pooling memories of the lido over the years, Keri-anne Payne delivering a coaching session and much more.

The celebrations culminate on 30 August 2023, which is the official centenary opening date. The pool originally opened a little earlier, but the official celebrations took place on 30 August and the lido intends to mark that. A day of celebrations will be held that will include swimming races with swimmers wearing vintage swimming costumes through the ages. As if all that wasn’t enough there is also a range of celebratory merchandise – and few lido road trippers can resist a bit of merch.

Time to compile your lido road trip list

All of the events will be open to the public, so the summer of 2023 is the ideal time to put Jesus Green on your lido road trip hit list. Some of the events will require booking and you’ll be able to find all the information you need on the Friends website as well as the Better website.

Nicky describes the lido as “just a lovely place”. She says it’s like a second home and you never know who you are going to meet – whether that be old friends or new people to chat to. The Friends of Jesus Green always welcome new members and if you’re interested in following the news and goings on for the centenary and beyond, or in getting involved, you can sign up to their mailing list for free via their website. 

Jesus Green: Centenary Calendar

• 10 June, 8pm: Nothing Great Is Easy. Chris Hudson’s one man play about Captain Webb
• 16 June, 8-10pm: Music and food at the Lido
• 21 June, 5am-10pm: Summer solstice
• 24 June: Water workout
• 24 June, 9pm-4.30am: Dusk to Dawn swim
• 10 July: Keri-anne Payne Swim Masterclass
• 15 July: Fitness Day Classes
• 22 July: Aquathlon
• 24-28 July: Inflatable session
• 9 August, 8pm: Enchanted cinema
• 30 August: Official Opening Day party and celebrations!

Emma Pusill is co-author of The Lido Guide. Lead photo: Helen Davis. Top left: Iain Shaw.