LYDNEY’S Bathurst swimming pool, described last year as a paradise for swimmers as well as the Forest of Dean’s best kept secret, celebrates 100 years of service to the district this summer.

Its history has ebbed and flowed for a century. Having been gifted to the town by the Bathurst family in 1920, the pool’s past has been one of good fortune as well as misadventure.

Time and again it has been threatened with closure because of lack of funds but has always been saved in the nick of time.

But its recent past has been a story of a string of successes as the volunteers who now run the pool have completed a transformation making it one of the best outdoor facilities in the west country.

It even boasts a solar panel heating system.

To celebrate the centenary, retired police officer and former town mayor Bob Berryman, the driving force behind the new-look pool, will tell the story of its ups and downs to members of the Forest of Dean Local History Society when they meet at Bream’s West Dean Centre on Saturday (March 14, 3pm).

Mary Sullivan, society chairman, describes the success of the pool as an example of what can be achieved by the effort and drive of unpaid but enthusiastic volunteers. The facility, she said, regularly attracted swimmers from Newport and

Gloucester.

It is hoped that a book being published to mark the occasion will be available at Mr

Berryman’s talk.