These images are from a creative portfolio project I shot at Coventry Baths in the UK, just before it closed for good. ‘Cov Baths’ was opened as part of the post-war rebuild of Coventry City following the WWII bombing blitz by the Luftwaffe. An extraordinary large piece of modernist architecture, with a 50 m pool and separate diving area set against towering windows, it was a much loved and well used place by generations of Coventry families over the years. Coventry Central Baths (or just plain Cov Baths to the locals) was built during the cities post-war redevelopments during the 1950’s and 60’s. Such was the damage from the bombing that the entire city centre was completely annihilated and four out of five of the original baths in Coventry were destroyed. Coventry Baths was opened in 1966 to replace these, and like most of the city rebuilding program, it was done in the modernist / brutalist architectural style that was popular at that time. In the new design, a splendid wall of windows flooded sunlight onto an Olympic size pool and a deep diving pool containing a mixture of low and high diving boards.

At the time, it was described as the ‘finest Baths in Europe’ and later in 1997, Coventry Central Baths was designated a Grade II listed building by Historic England. The baths were part of a new modern city planning design experiment where citizens could get anywhere in the city they needed to on either foot or bike. On arrival at the pool, swimmers paid for a ticket in the foyer, and headed downstairs to large underground changing rooms where they were handed a wire basket on a frame with a hook on the top. The baskets were filled with belongings and handed to an attendant, and then after a walk back up another set stairs you finally stepped out into the splendid pool area.

Like many children of Coventry and Warwickshire, I learnt to swim at Cov Baths, but it was also a popular social hub and meeting place for families, friends, and couples who would visit the baths from across the region for a day out and many people will have fond memories of the baths. When I discovered that the baths were set to close, I fixed upon the idea of getting inside to create a portfolio of some sort to remember it by. After much public sector lobbying and pestering, I was lucky enough to be given the entire pool complex to myself for one day without any public visitors, to shoot Long Way To Fall (which was christened when, flanked by assistant Massimo who as gingerly handing me lenses, I was dangling precariously from the top high diving board, snapping the models below).

Sadly, on 15th February 2020, the last public swim took place in Cov Baths and the centre was finally closed. RIP Cov Baths. Thanks for all the good times.