Ripon Spa Baths closes as leisure venue

The 116 year-old building announced its closure on Sunday, 7 November

Ripon Spa Baths
Author: Demi OlutunmogunPublished 8th Nov 2021

Ripon Spa Baths in Ripon, which was used for spa-goers and swimmers, closed on Sunday, 7 November.

The staff are being transferred across to a new swimming pool set to open at Ripon Leisure Centre on 8 December.

If and for what use the baths will reopen to the public will depend on the outcome of a sale by Harrogate Borough Council which recently announced it had found an unnamed bidder for the building.

Councillor Andrew Williams, leader of Ripon City Council, said the authority was exploring a "number of options" for the baths which he shared his favourite memories of.

He said:

"My mum used to swim in the spa baths as a child in the 1940s and has happy memories of being able to swim all afternoon on a Saturday for 4 pence.

"She has less happy memories of jumping off the top diving board onto the head of one of her friends.

"I remember learning to swim at the spa baths in the 1970s and many local residents will I am sure have memories of the spa baths."

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