The attendance was 22 with 3 apologies
Our Speaker Finder Paul Young reports:-
Our speaker this week was Earl Connolly, who is a member of Dawlish Probus Club, and his presentation was called “Lido Days are Limited”. The title meant that the talk was something of a mystery but it quickly become clear that it was a subject that was both interesting and entertaining.
Earl explained in detail the history of how the Lido became a huge success, particularly in seaside towns. However, Earl didn’t stop there but went on to talk about the popularity of swimming and all of the associated needs that went with that, eg costumes, changing facilities, etc. This turned out to be an interesting and enjoyable presentation that was enjoyed by all of our members.
Our Photographer Tony Taft continues:-
The subject of todays talk was “ Lido days are limited “ Yes we were all scratching our heads wondering what that was all about but it turned out to be an entertaining and comical talk.
The word Lido is Italian and comes from Venice, and means open water, so in the region of Venice there is a beach that is called Lido, so it’s not just a place to swim in a pool fed by sea water.
Earl gave us a brilliant visual presentation a mixture of photos of various Lidos around the country and some video’s especially how popular Lido’s were in the olden days.
Up to 1970 four hundred and ten were built and ninety five are still operational.
The rest are either no longer existing or in terrible need of restoration and when you restore a Lido you are talking millions of pounds. Many have been restored, an example is Tinside Lido Plymouth which was fully restored in recent times and is as popular as ever, maybe not so this time of the year.
Earl then strayed off the subject of Lido’s and went on to the subject of swim wear and how the fashion changed over the years when only face and hands were allowed to be seen in women, and men could swim in the nude. Not a pretty sight, at this time of the year they must have come out of the water looking like refills for a ball point pen. Gradually styles changed allowing women to show a little more, and men a little less.
Comedy came in the form of the cartoon characters during Earls visual presentation.
It was a good meeting and many questions were asked.
Paignton Probus Club 