BPSC History

	BROOMFIELD PARK SWIMMING CLUB Established 1903

	HISTORY
Home Results Learn to swim Development Competition Masters	Over 100 years ago a small group of Edwardian gentlemen used to visit Broomfield Park in Southgate to swim in one of the lakes. They enjoyed their activity and the company of each other, so in true English tradition they formed themselves into a Club, and that group of fine upstanding bearded Edwardian gentlemen, in their horizontally striped one piece bathing costumes, called themselves "Broomfield Park Swimming Club". As the history shows, we have come a long way in one hundred years, but basically we still swim for enjoyment, fitness and the fun of competition and this is surely the reason our forefathers established the Club in 1903. IN THE BEGINNING We accept July 1903 as our founding date following the opening of Broomfield Park in April that year. The first actual evidence we have of Club records is a meeting held at "Bickertons", Bowes Park, when a Christmas morning handicap of one width of the lake was agreed, and of the second Annual General Meeting held on the 6th April, 1905, when thirty-five gentlemen were present and the junior subscription was agreed as one shilling per annum and any gentleman subscribing half-a-guinea qualified as a Vice President. The Club colours were then black and white. The Park opened at 6 am - imagine at that hour those stalwarts swimming their very upright breaststroke or the old English backstroke. Front crawl had only developed at the beginning of the century and was still a "new stroke" and it was 1912 before backstroke was swum with the alternating arm action and the leg movement of the modern stroke. A peaceful scene then with the rising sun glinting through the trees, no rumble of traffic, no noise of aircraft, no mobile phones - just the birds singing and a joy of tranquility we do not know today. Of course the water was not always clean and hygienic, and in March 1906 the lake was emptied of water and the mud removed. "Plunging" boards were made firm and starting boards raised, as a tree had fallen across the existing boards causing them to sink. The gentlemen of Broomfield Park, wishing to progress from their upright breaststroke and sidestroke suggested the erection of a diving stage". In that same month (March 1906) there is a letter in the Club records from Mr Harold Fern (later secretary of the Amateur Swimming Association for many years and honorary life president of the world swimming organisation FINA) regarding a one mile championship event for the members of Broomfield Park Swimming Club: after all Captain Matthew Webb had swum the channel in 1875 on breast stroke, so surely a one mile championship was within the capabilities of the members of the Broomfield Park Swimming Club! (We still have this one-mile event, not as a championship but as a charity fundraiser with 50% of the sponsorship going to local charities). 1906 was a busy year, as it saw the start of correspondence with the then Southgate Urban District Council which went on for some time concerning the removal of 2 "uprights" and a "Cement Wall" from the lake. How it got there in the first place and how it was eventually removed, is not on record. Through the Club records certain items taken out of context, cause the imagination to run riot, as indeed it does over an item in 1906 (on the 7th June to be exact) recording that the Secretary purchased two pairs of "flesh gloves"! Perhaps we should not exercise our minds on the need for these articles. 1906 also saw the start of the social activities of the Club, when a profit of seven shillings and eleven pence was made on a whist drive - a lot of money then - and it started the nucleus of a social fund. It was in 1906, and indeed for many years to follow, that two Constables were on duty on Gala Day in Broomfield Park and Wood Green Excelsior Band would play during the Gala. A year later, in 1907, members were requested to wear the Club Badge on their "drawers or costume" thus enabling the instructor to identify them as belonging to the Club, when they would then "receive attention". You can see a picture of BPSC Club Members wearing the swimwear from 1907 on the notice board at QE Girls, or click here to see a picture of our Club Members used as part of the online London Parks Discovery Project. THE EARLY YEARS In that same year, and just four years after the gentlemen, the Ladies Section started. Initially five hundred circulars were printed setting out the benefits to be derived from joining the Ladies Section and subsequently a further one thousand circulars were printed. With the formation of a Ladies Section it became necessary to find a lady instructor, because no Edwardian gentleman could possibly see a lady in a swimsuit, let alone teach her swimming! It was, therefore, in April of 1907, that a Mrs Nellie Easton was engaged by the Club on Wednesday evenings from 7pm to “closing time” (whenever that was) and was paid five guineas for a period of six months. The ladies of Broomfield Park had a one-length event in the Lake Gala programme, and were permitted to change in Broomfield Park House. It is not known what the first ladies of the Club wore, but it was certainly very conservative, consisting of tunic, pantaloons, cap, shoes, and probably stockings. What would the founding members of the Club think now, given that the newest competition pool in the Borough of Enfield has a ‘changing village’ where men, women and children change in adjacent cubicles? It was in 1910 that the new Public Baths were opened at Wood Green and the Club, in addition to its activities in Broomfield Park, extended its swimming time and used this new swimming bath. The Ladies swam on one evening and the gentlemen on another, and perish the thought that either should ever meet in a “bath environment”. Instruction in swimming then began with Professor Brickett instructing the gentlemen of the Club. In June 1910 the Ladies' Secretary sought permission to use one of the Club watches but a certain gentleman was not agreeable and the matter was dropped. The social side of the Club continued to develop and dances (dress optional) were held, tickets usually being two shillings (ten pence). During the evening the dances included the waltz, barn dance, Lancers, and of course the Broomfield Quadrille! The evening ended with a “waltz and gallop”. In those bygone years the summers were warm and winters were cold. Often the Christmas morning handicap had to be abandoned when the ice was too thick to break. If it was possible to break the ice, then the race took place. The finances of the Club have always proved interesting and the method of book-keeping has varied from time to time. In the Income and Expenditure Account in 1906, an item under “Gratuities” was explained as covering “paint, rail fares and sundry other items” - all this for an amount of £1 1s 2d. There was another item on this particular Balance Sheet which had linked together “matting and a wreath” - ten shillings and three pence - we trust this was only a financial amalgamation! With the accession of George V to the throne we come to a time when there are many gaps in the records of the Club, and one can only assume that during the period 1910 to 1914, things went fairly smoothly; the ladies certainly made progress from their drill regulation costume to a crepe bathing chemise with a silk cap and shoes, but the gentlemen were more conservative and remained in their striped one piece costumes. This was a period when wages did not keep pace with the cost of living and, alongside the pleasure and pageantry of the era, was the foreboding of ugly conflict. We were heading towards the 1914-1918 war and we have a complete break in the records. The ladies and gentlemen of the Edwardian Era were now the women and men of the First World War and were occupied with other things. BETWEEN THE WARS We do not pick up any official Broomfield Park records until 1922-4 and then it is only from old Dinner Menus, when the meal always included "Boiled Pots", "Browned Pots" "Broomfield Cream" and "Aquatic Cream". During these dinners, music was always in evidence and in 1924 Maude Evans sang "Somewhere a Voice is Calling" and a Mr Arthur Brown followed with "I did not know". In 1924 a Drama Group was formed within the Club and they called themselves "The Palmers Green Players". Programmes for their performances cost two old pence. This developed in 1928 into the Club Concert Party called "The Wobblies". In 1929 one of our men water polo players played for England and one of our women members played for Middlesex. There were 18 starters for the Christmas morning handicap, though how many finished is not on record! The first Christmas Day broadcast was made over the "wireless" by King George V in 1931. The women of Broomfield Park were swimming at Wood Green Baths on a Thursday evening, the men's on Monday. In 1932 one of our women members was considered for the Los Angeles Olympic Games. A year later, the Lake in Broomfield Park was closed to early morning swimming, thus ending after thirty years, the regular bracing swim in its soft water. The Wood Green (Durnsford Road) Lido opened in 1934. The Club did hold a Club evening there but it was never a complete success. It had everything the Club had never had before; sparkling clean water, Olympic diving boards, sun-bathing areas, water chutes, fountains, a café, but somehow the Club spirit never flourished there and it always seemed cold and wet. In 1932 the Club went to Alexandra Palace for the first time for its Annual Dinner. To arrive at the dining area one walked through the Great Hall with its overbearing statues - grotesque and black - past the great organ - patent dancing pumps echoing over the metal grating, and in those days a late tram used to be hired to bring people back after the Dinner. The 90th and Centenary Dinners had the same venue but a different mode of transport. The annual lake gala continued until 1938. The gala races had to be swum across the lake to avoid stirring up too much mud in the shallow end. When George V's Silver Jubilee was celebrated in 1935, the gala attracted more people than usual. Even the hessian screens did not prevent small boys and girls squeezing underneath to see the fun and games on the lake because it was not all races and swimming. "Fun" events were held, people dressed up and toppled out of punts, gramophones played and, if you lined up at the right tent, you got a mug of Bovril and a large digestive biscuit free! In 1936 the Junior 100 yards championship time was 80.2 seconds, beating the previous record of 83.0 made in 1929. This may be compared to the current record of 54.57 seconds! There was an outing to Hampton Court, with tea, for three shillings and six pence and in 1937 Dinner Tickets were increased by sixpence to four shillings. Local civic dignitaries were always guests at the Annual Dinner. In 1939 Arnos Swimming Pool opened, the first of its kind in the area, an "educational" pool for teaching swimming to those under 21 years of age. However, war clouds were gathering again, but this time the Club kept going in spirit during the 1939-45 war, and each year held its Annual General Meeting, even if only a handful of people attended. A post war revival committee was appointed to look to the Club's future. Subscriptions were reduced to one shilling for seniors and sixpence for juniors for the duration of the war. POST WAR After the war, activities started again, but with a difference. We became “mixed” in the full sense of the word. The male and female sexes swam together on one evening, though some did not agree with this step and left the Club. The Wood Green pool was often closed for one reason or another. Members had to travel to Tottenham Baths, Stoke Newington Baths, or indeed to wherever they could get water time. In the fifties it was also quite common for baths to be closed at short notice because of polio scares and this happened to us many times. The emphasis on safety has progressively increased over the years to the present time, with the current strict requirements on the training and retraining of lifeguards, on the Health and Safety Act and the laws on child protection. During this time our Club night was shared with the general public. It was very difficult to have lessons and training with members of the public doing their own things at the same time. Their annoyance was often very evident when we used to clear the pool for our races. However, in February 1953, a milestone was reached when, after many years of negotiation, we were granted exclusive use of Wood Green Pool. The Club had the pool from 7-9pm on Wednesdays and the members certainly packed a lot into those two hours. All ages, abilities and sexes were represented: beginners, non-swimmers, improvers, swimmers, training team, senior swimming time, and two water polo teams (male and female teams). Later that year we were able to obtain another hour of pool time on Wednesday and a further two hours on Friday for advanced training. By the end of 1953 our membership had increased from 147 to 407! It was in 1953 that the Club celebrated its Golden Jubilee and the occasion was marked by special galas and social events, including a Dinner Dance at the Oakwood Sports and Social Club in Bramley Road, Southgate. At Wood Green we held just one gala a year; it was always on the Wednesday Club night. There were water polo matches for both the men’s and ladies’ teams and often a diving display. The races were all handicaps, for Club members only, and they always included a one length ‘bash’ for the old crocks, who were quaintly named the “old at 40s” for the men and “just over 21s” for the ladies. It was during this time that one of the hazards of winter was fog - or rather “smog” as it came to be called. As the Dinner has always been held in November, members became quite accustomed to either walking home from this event or travelling in long convoys of cars at a crawling pace. In 1958 there was another landmark in our history. We were able to hire Arnos Pool for 2 hours on Saturday afternoons and all our learners were transferred there. Our reputation as a teaching club went up by leaps and bounds and it became necessary to institute a waiting list, up to two years at times! We gradually became able to use Arnos for Saturday night Splashes and internal competitions. This continues to the present day. THE CLUB TRAVELS TO EUROPE The Club entered Europe in 1972 and established contact with the Kennemer Club in Holland. This represents an important point in the social development of the Club. Since this time, on an almost annual basis, we have had exchange visits at Easter. The first seven years were with the Dutch club and ever since 1981 with the Grün-Schwarz Swimming Club from Altenberge in Germany. Our friendship with Altenberge has become very close and lasting. The essence of this exchange was summarised in the "Prost Report" of 1982 when BPSC returned from Altenberge for the first time. "Nothing seemed to be too much trouble to ensure we received the best attention and the warmth and friendliness shown was unbelievable". The hospitality has always been overwhelming. Altenberge presents a dramatic contrast to North London. It is a small farming village near Münster where the children stay with families of swimmers, sometimes on working farms. Swimmers from both clubs experience living in totally different environments where freedoms and responsibilities are very different. The weekend entertainment schedule is gruelling, with the 'International' swimming gala paradoxically appearing to be of minor importance, as just one of the many activities of the weekend. However, our swimmers always rise to the challenge of the gala with great enthusiasm. This is illustrated by a quote from Brooms News of June 1984. "I have a new training schedule to offer the Chief Coach. First, get your swimmers up at 4 am, then take them for a 15 hour coach/boat/coach journey. Make sure that they go out to a couple of parties and that they don't go to bed before 2am. See that they do no swimming the next day, but keep them running around sight-seeing, cycling etc and that they get another night out until 2am. Finally spend the next day touring and shopping, then let them swim .. but in at least 8 races. If you think this won't work, take a look at the Altenberge results! Following exactly the above training schedule our swimmers achieved 26 individual wins, 14 personal bests, 1 Club record and won the gala! " Although the BPSC Drama Group of the 20s no longer exists, cabaret acts are now always a feature of the exchange visits. These are always very entertaining and amusing, for example in 1997 our girls performed the "Spice Girls" then in 2001 our boys responded by performing their "Spice Girls" in drag! The friendships made with the Altenberge swimmers and parents have lasted and swimmers from the two Clubs visit each other independently of the exchange visit and well beyond the time of their association with the Club. Now after 25 years, the second generation of swimmers is participating in the exchange. Members of BPSC were invited to Grün-Schwarz's 20th anniversary in 1997 and several members of Grün-Schwarz were present at our Centenary celebrations. CHANGING TIMES With increasing emphasis on speed swimming, some of our other activities such as the life saving championships and diving championships (not competed for since 1963) had to go to the wall. The "Pop" Hudson competition was also dropped in 1967. John Hudson was a founder member and a past president of the Club and, after he died in 1947, two trophies were established in his name for a competition judged entirely on style, not speed. In 1966 the Club finally bade farewell to Wood Green and returned to Southgate to the new pool in Winchmore Hill Road. We had over the years of our existence always campaigned for a pool in Southgate and at last it was realised. We had indeed returned "home" and it was from this time that the Club changed, as indeed it had to. Swimming had started as a gentle sport, our Club had survived two world wars and a complete change in the structure of life. Now swimming became a business and we entered wholeheartedly into that business but without the complete lost of its family orientation, which was a deliberate decision at that time. We found it difficult at first to forget that we had only really been a family club. Members had only needed a costume, a towel, and a couple of old pence to join activities (and indeed the costume and towel could be "hired" at most of the older pools). In the years that had slipped by, the sport had not attracted a very large following and consequently, had afforded employment for a minimal number of people. Swimming baths had been sited alongside public or "slipper" baths and "wash" houses and local authorities had run them through their Public Health Committees. The emphasis had been on the slipper baths and the washhouses and the swimming baths had been secondary in importance. The staff had been mainly concerned with the public seeking their weekly bath (and after all very many people did not have their own baths in those days), and they had paid scant attention to the very cold and often unchlorinated water of the swimming bath. In the Swinging Sixties new pools began to emerge; they usually consisted of a main pool, a teaching pool, and a diving pit, and subsequently were sited within a Leisure Complex, and therefore came under the direction and control of the Recreational or Pool Manager; smartly attired poolside attendants patrolled pool areas, numerous teachers, instructors and coaches in brightly coloured track suits were on hand to give expert advice and tuition. It was at this time, just after we moved to Southgate, that the Club reached its highest membership of over 500. No self-respecting parents would send their offspring swimming without a special jet stream swimsuit; over this would be the tee shirt (with club name or emblem across the chest), a track suit or action suit, which together with track shoes completed the outfit. In the smart white (water resistant) hold-all one would find a spare swimsuit (jet stream of course) flip-flop sandals, towelling jacket, matching towel, bathing cap (unisex), anti-chlorine goggles to protect the eyes, eye drops, nose clips, ear plugs, leg floats, kicking boards, hand paddles, clipboard, stop watch etc and the same self-respecting parents would surely lodge objections if the pool did not have the special "wave eraser lane markers". In 1966, joining the contemporary scene, specialisation became necessary. A decision had to be made; remain a family club and possibly not survive; go competitive; become a diving club; go in for life saving, sub aqua, snorkelling, water polo or synchro - so many avenues to explore. For a while we hesitated, not quite certain what to do, but it eventually became apparent that the only real means of survival was to enter the competitive scene. So the Club became mainly competitive and has remained as such until the present time. The total membership of the Club in its Diamond Jubilee year was around the 300 plus mark. From an early morning dip in the lake, to the 2 hours once a week, the Club was now functioning five days per week with a total of nearly ten hours swimming time each week. There was a major swimming event nearly every week of the year, and awards gained were in the region of 500 a year. March 1967 marks the first publication of Brooms News, a regular newsletter, the main means of communication for the Club membership ever since. The first issue emphasised the continuing importance of the social aspects of the Club despite the competitive nature; this ethos has resulted in long lasting friendships, commitments and association of members with the Club. A past president, Mrs Richardson, was still a member of the Club at the time of her death in 1974, aged 102. Over the years there have been a number of intermarriages and many swimming dynasties; families with three generations of swimmers have not been unusual, although all three swimming concurrently is less common. The 1970s heralded wild fashions, flowered polyester shirts and bell bottomed trousers, platform shoes and "the wider the better" ties and droopy moustaches for the wannabe hippies. In line with these changes the Club made the token gesture of changing the Club colours from Black and White to Mauve! The coming of the next, more sophisticated, decade also heralded new Club colours. In June 1981 we decided on two-tone blue. New tracksuits were purchased to keep the gala swimmers warm between races. They remained the property of the Club and were washed by long-suffering parent volunteers between galas! In 1987 these tracksuits were superseded for a limited time by flashy, shiny, predominantly white and totally impractical "shell suits".	Links

BROOMFIELD PARK SWIMMING CLUB

Established 1903

HISTORY

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Over 100 years ago a small group of Edwardian gentlemen used to visit Broomfield Park in Southgate to swim in one of the lakes. They enjoyed their activity and the company of each other, so in true English tradition they formed themselves into a Club, and that group of fine upstanding bearded Edwardian gentlemen, in their horizontally striped one piece bathing costumes, called themselves "Broomfield Park Swimming Club". As the history shows, we have come a long way in one hundred years, but basically we still swim for enjoyment, fitness and the fun of competition and this is surely the reason our forefathers established the Club in 1903.

IN THE BEGINNING

We accept July 1903 as our founding date following the opening of Broomfield Park in April that year. The first actual evidence we have of Club records is a meeting held at "Bickertons", Bowes Park, when a Christmas morning handicap of one width of the lake was agreed, and of the second Annual General Meeting held on the 6th April, 1905, when thirty-five gentlemen were present and the junior subscription was agreed as one shilling per annum and any gentleman subscribing half-a-guinea qualified as a Vice President. The Club colours were then black and white. The Park opened at 6 am - imagine at that hour those stalwarts swimming their very upright breaststroke or the old English backstroke. Front crawl had only developed at the beginning of the century and was still a "new stroke" and it was 1912 before backstroke was swum with the alternating arm action and the leg movement of the modern stroke. A peaceful scene then with the rising sun glinting through the trees, no rumble of traffic, no noise of aircraft, no mobile phones - just the birds singing and a joy of tranquility we do not know today. Of course the water was not always clean and hygienic, and in March 1906 the lake was emptied of water and the mud removed. "Plunging" boards were made firm and starting boards raised, as a tree had fallen across the existing boards causing them to sink.
The gentlemen of Broomfield Park, wishing to progress from their upright breaststroke and sidestroke suggested the erection of a diving stage". In that same month (March 1906) there is a letter in the Club records from Mr Harold Fern (later secretary of the Amateur Swimming Association for many years and honorary life president of the world swimming organisation FINA) regarding a one mile championship event for the members of Broomfield Park Swimming Club: after all Captain Matthew Webb had swum the channel in 1875 on breast stroke, so surely a one mile championship was within the capabilities of the members of the Broomfield Park Swimming Club! (We still have this one-mile event, not as a championship but as a charity fundraiser with 50% of the sponsorship going to local charities). 1906 was a busy year, as it saw the start of correspondence with the then Southgate Urban District Council which went on for some time concerning the removal of 2 "uprights" and a "Cement Wall" from the lake. How it got there in the first place and how it was eventually removed, is not on record. Through the Club records certain items taken out of context, cause the imagination to run riot, as indeed it does over an item in 1906 (on the 7th June to be exact) recording that the Secretary purchased two pairs of "flesh gloves"! Perhaps we should not exercise our minds on the need for these articles. 1906 also saw the start of the social activities of the Club, when a profit of seven shillings and eleven pence was made on a whist drive - a lot of money then - and it started the nucleus of a social fund. It was in 1906, and indeed for many years to follow, that two Constables were on duty on Gala Day in Broomfield Park and Wood Green Excelsior Band would play during the Gala.

A year later, in 1907, members were requested to wear the Club Badge on their "drawers or costume" thus enabling the instructor to identify them as belonging to the Club, when they would then "receive attention". You can see a picture of BPSC Club Members wearing the swimwear from 1907 on the notice board at QE Girls, or click here to see a picture of our Club Members used as part of the online London Parks Discovery Project.

THE EARLY YEARS

In that same year, and just four years after the gentlemen, the Ladies Section started. Initially five hundred circulars were printed setting out the benefits to be derived from joining the Ladies Section and subsequently a further one thousand circulars were printed. With the formation of a Ladies Section it became necessary to find a lady instructor, because no Edwardian gentleman could possibly see a lady in a swimsuit, let alone teach her swimming! It was, therefore, in April of 1907, that a Mrs Nellie Easton was engaged by the Club on Wednesday evenings from 7pm to “closing time” (whenever that was) and was paid five guineas for a period of six months. The ladies of Broomfield Park had a one-length event in the Lake Gala programme, and were permitted to change in Broomfield Park House. It is not known what the first ladies of the Club wore, but it was certainly very conservative, consisting of tunic, pantaloons, cap, shoes, and probably stockings.

What would the founding members of the Club think now, given that the newest competition pool in the Borough of Enfield has a ‘changing village’ where men, women and children change in adjacent cubicles? It was in 1910 that the new Public Baths were opened at Wood Green and the Club, in addition to its activities in Broomfield Park, extended its swimming time and used this new swimming bath. The Ladies swam on one evening and the gentlemen on another, and perish the thought that either should ever meet in a “bath environment”. Instruction in swimming then began with Professor Brickett instructing the gentlemen of the Club. In June 1910 the Ladies' Secretary sought permission to use one of the Club watches but a certain gentleman was not agreeable and the matter was dropped. The social side of the Club continued to develop and dances (dress optional) were held, tickets usually being two shillings (ten pence). During the evening the dances included the waltz, barn dance, Lancers, and of course the Broomfield Quadrille! The evening ended with a “waltz and gallop”. In those bygone years the summers were warm and winters were cold. Often the Christmas morning handicap had to be abandoned when the ice was too thick to break. If it was possible to break the ice, then the race took place.

The finances of the Club have always proved interesting and the method of book-keeping has varied from time to time. In the Income and Expenditure Account in 1906, an item under “Gratuities” was explained as covering “paint, rail fares and sundry other items” - all this for an amount of £1 1s 2d. There was another item on this particular Balance Sheet which had linked together “matting and a wreath” - ten shillings and three pence - we trust this was only a financial amalgamation! With the accession of George V to the throne we come to a time when there are many gaps in the records of the Club, and one can only assume that during the period 1910 to 1914, things went fairly smoothly; the ladies certainly made progress from their drill regulation costume to a crepe bathing chemise with a silk cap and shoes, but the gentlemen were more conservative and remained in their striped one piece costumes. This was a period when wages did not keep pace with the cost of living and, alongside the pleasure and pageantry of the era, was the foreboding of ugly conflict. We were heading towards the 1914-1918 war and we have a complete break in the records. The ladies and gentlemen of the Edwardian Era were now the women and men of the First World War and were occupied with other things.

BETWEEN THE WARS

We do not pick up any official Broomfield Park records until 1922-4 and then it is only from old Dinner Menus, when the meal always included "Boiled Pots", "Browned Pots" "Broomfield Cream" and "Aquatic Cream". During these dinners, music was always in evidence and in 1924 Maude Evans sang "Somewhere a Voice is Calling" and a Mr Arthur Brown followed with "I did not know". In 1924 a Drama Group was formed within the Club and they called themselves "The Palmers Green Players".

Programmes for their performances cost two old pence. This developed in 1928 into the Club Concert Party called "The Wobblies". In 1929 one of our men water polo players played for England and one of our women members played for Middlesex. There were 18 starters for the Christmas morning handicap, though how many finished is not on record! The first Christmas Day broadcast was made over the "wireless" by King George V in 1931. The women of Broomfield Park were swimming at Wood Green Baths on a Thursday evening, the men's on Monday. In 1932 one of our women members was considered for the Los Angeles Olympic Games. A year later, the Lake in Broomfield Park was closed to early morning swimming, thus ending after thirty years, the regular bracing swim in its soft water. The Wood Green (Durnsford Road) Lido opened in 1934. The Club did hold a Club evening there but it was never a complete success. It had everything the Club had never had before; sparkling clean water, Olympic diving boards, sun-bathing areas, water chutes, fountains, a café, but somehow the Club spirit never flourished there and it always seemed cold and wet. In 1932 the Club went to Alexandra Palace for the first time for its Annual Dinner. To arrive at the dining area one walked through the Great Hall with its overbearing statues - grotesque and black - past the great organ - patent dancing pumps echoing over the metal grating, and in those days a late tram used to be hired to bring people back after the Dinner. The 90th and Centenary Dinners had the same venue but a different mode of transport. The annual lake gala continued until 1938.

The gala races had to be swum across the lake to avoid stirring up too much mud in the shallow end. When George V's Silver Jubilee was celebrated in 1935, the gala attracted more people than usual. Even the hessian screens did not prevent small boys and girls squeezing underneath to see the fun and games on the lake because it was not all races and swimming. "Fun" events were held, people dressed up and toppled out of punts, gramophones played and, if you lined up at the right tent, you got a mug of Bovril and a large digestive biscuit free! In 1936 the Junior 100 yards championship time was 80.2 seconds, beating the previous record of 83.0 made in 1929. This may be compared to the current record of 54.57 seconds! There was an outing to Hampton Court, with tea, for three shillings and six pence and in 1937 Dinner Tickets were increased by sixpence to four shillings. Local civic dignitaries were always guests at the Annual Dinner. In 1939 Arnos Swimming Pool opened, the first of its kind in the area, an "educational" pool for teaching swimming to those under 21 years of age. However, war clouds were gathering again, but this time the Club kept going in spirit during the 1939-45 war, and each year held its Annual General Meeting, even if only a handful of people attended. A post war revival committee was appointed to look to the Club's future. Subscriptions were reduced to one shilling for seniors and sixpence for juniors for the duration of the war.

POST WAR

After the war, activities started again, but with a difference. We became “mixed” in the full sense of the word. The male and female sexes swam together on one evening, though some did not agree with this step and left the Club. The Wood Green pool was often closed for one reason or another. Members had to travel to Tottenham Baths, Stoke Newington Baths, or indeed to wherever they could get water time. In the fifties it was also quite common for baths to be closed at short notice because of polio scares and this happened to us many times. The emphasis on safety has progressively increased over the years to the present time, with the current strict requirements on the training and retraining of lifeguards, on the Health and Safety Act and the laws on child protection. During this time our Club night was shared with the general public. It was very difficult to have lessons and training with members of the public doing their own things at the same time. Their annoyance was often very evident when we used to clear the pool for our races. However, in February 1953, a milestone was reached when, after many years of negotiation, we were granted exclusive use of Wood Green Pool. The Club had the pool from 7-9pm on Wednesdays and the members certainly packed a lot into those two hours. All ages, abilities and sexes were represented: beginners, non-swimmers, improvers, swimmers, training team, senior swimming time, and two water polo teams (male and female teams). Later that year we were able to obtain another hour of pool time on Wednesday and a further two hours on Friday for advanced training.

By the end of 1953 our membership had increased from 147 to 407! It was in 1953 that the Club celebrated its Golden Jubilee and the occasion was marked by special galas and social events, including a Dinner Dance at the Oakwood Sports and Social Club in Bramley Road, Southgate. At Wood Green we held just one gala a year; it was always on the Wednesday Club night. There were water polo matches for both the men’s and ladies’ teams and often a diving display. The races were all handicaps, for Club members only, and they always included a one length ‘bash’ for the old crocks, who were quaintly named the “old at 40s” for the men and “just over 21s” for the ladies. It was during this time that one of the hazards of winter was fog - or rather “smog” as it came to be called. As the Dinner has always been held in November, members became quite accustomed to either walking home from this event or travelling in long convoys of cars at a crawling pace. In 1958 there was another landmark in our history. We were able to hire Arnos Pool for 2 hours on Saturday afternoons and all our learners were transferred there. Our reputation as a teaching club went up by leaps and bounds and it became necessary to institute a waiting list, up to two years at times! We gradually became able to use Arnos for Saturday night Splashes and internal competitions. This continues to the present day.

THE CLUB TRAVELS TO EUROPE

The Club entered Europe in 1972 and established contact with the Kennemer Club in Holland. This represents an important point in the social development of the Club. Since this time, on an almost annual basis, we have had exchange visits at Easter. The first seven years were with the Dutch club and ever since 1981 with the Grün-Schwarz Swimming Club from Altenberge in Germany. Our friendship with Altenberge has become very close and lasting. The essence of this exchange was summarised in the "Prost Report" of 1982 when BPSC returned from Altenberge for the first time. "Nothing seemed to be too much trouble to ensure we received the best attention and the warmth and friendliness shown was unbelievable". The hospitality has always been overwhelming. Altenberge presents a dramatic contrast to North London. It is a small farming village near Münster where the children stay with families of swimmers, sometimes on working farms. Swimmers from both clubs experience living in totally different environments where freedoms and responsibilities are very different. The weekend entertainment schedule is gruelling, with the 'International' swimming gala paradoxically appearing to be of minor importance, as just one of the many activities of the weekend. However, our swimmers always rise to the challenge of the gala with great enthusiasm.

This is illustrated by a quote from Brooms News of June 1984. "I have a new training schedule to offer the Chief Coach. First, get your swimmers up at 4 am, then take them for a 15 hour coach/boat/coach journey. Make sure that they go out to a couple of parties and that they don't go to bed before 2am. See that they do no swimming the next day, but keep them running around sight-seeing, cycling etc and that they get another night out until 2am. Finally spend the next day touring and shopping, then let them swim .. but in at least 8 races. If you think this won't work, take a look at the Altenberge results! Following exactly the above training schedule our swimmers achieved 26 individual wins, 14 personal bests, 1 Club record and won the gala! " Although the BPSC Drama Group of the 20s no longer exists, cabaret acts are now always a feature of the exchange visits. These are always very entertaining and amusing, for example in 1997 our girls performed the "Spice Girls" then in 2001 our boys responded by performing their "Spice Girls" in drag! The friendships made with the Altenberge swimmers and parents have lasted and swimmers from the two Clubs visit each other independently of the exchange visit and well beyond the time of their association with the Club. Now after 25 years, the second generation of swimmers is participating in the exchange. Members of BPSC were invited to Grün-Schwarz's 20th anniversary in 1997 and several members of Grün-Schwarz were present at our Centenary celebrations.

CHANGING TIMES

With increasing emphasis on speed swimming, some of our other activities such as the life saving championships and diving championships (not competed for since 1963) had to go to the wall. The "Pop" Hudson competition was also dropped in 1967. John Hudson was a founder member and a past president of the Club and, after he died in 1947, two trophies were established in his name for a competition judged entirely on style, not speed. In 1966 the Club finally bade farewell to Wood Green and returned to Southgate to the new pool in Winchmore Hill Road. We had over the years of our existence always campaigned for a pool in Southgate and at last it was realised. We had indeed returned "home" and it was from this time that the Club changed, as indeed it had to. Swimming had started as a gentle sport, our Club had survived two world wars and a complete change in the structure of life. Now swimming became a business and we entered wholeheartedly into that business but without the complete lost of its family orientation, which was a deliberate decision at that time.

We found it difficult at first to forget that we had only really been a family club. Members had only needed a costume, a towel, and a couple of old pence to join activities (and indeed the costume and towel could be "hired" at most of the older pools). In the years that had slipped by, the sport had not attracted a very large following and consequently, had afforded employment for a minimal number of people. Swimming baths had been sited alongside public or "slipper" baths and "wash" houses and local authorities had run them through their Public Health Committees. The emphasis had been on the slipper baths and the washhouses and the swimming baths had been secondary in importance. The staff had been mainly concerned with the public seeking their weekly bath (and after all very many people did not have their own baths in those days), and they had paid scant attention to the very cold and often unchlorinated water of the swimming bath. In the Swinging Sixties new pools began to emerge; they usually consisted of a main pool, a teaching pool, and a diving pit, and subsequently were sited within a Leisure Complex, and therefore came under the direction and control of the Recreational or Pool Manager; smartly attired poolside attendants patrolled pool areas, numerous teachers, instructors and coaches in brightly coloured track suits were on hand to give expert advice and tuition.

It was at this time, just after we moved to Southgate, that the Club reached its highest membership of over 500. No self-respecting parents would send their offspring swimming without a special jet stream swimsuit; over this would be the tee shirt (with club name or emblem across the chest), a track suit or action suit, which together with track shoes completed the outfit. In the smart white (water resistant) hold-all one would find a spare swimsuit (jet stream of course) flip-flop sandals, towelling jacket, matching towel, bathing cap (unisex), anti-chlorine goggles to protect the eyes, eye drops, nose clips, ear plugs, leg floats, kicking boards, hand paddles, clipboard, stop watch etc and the same self-respecting parents would surely lodge objections if the pool did not have the special "wave eraser lane markers". In 1966, joining the contemporary scene, specialisation became necessary. A decision had to be made; remain a family club and possibly not survive; go competitive; become a diving club; go in for life saving, sub aqua, snorkelling, water polo or synchro - so many avenues to explore. For a while we hesitated, not quite certain what to do, but it eventually became apparent that the only real means of survival was to enter the competitive scene. So the Club became mainly competitive and has remained as such until the present time.

The total membership of the Club in its Diamond Jubilee year was around the 300 plus mark. From an early morning dip in the lake, to the 2 hours once a week, the Club was now functioning five days per week with a total of nearly ten hours swimming time each week. There was a major swimming event nearly every week of the year, and awards gained were in the region of 500 a year. March 1967 marks the first publication of Brooms News, a regular newsletter, the main means of communication for the Club membership ever since. The first issue emphasised the continuing importance of the social aspects of the Club despite the competitive nature; this ethos has resulted in long lasting friendships, commitments and association of members with the Club. A past president, Mrs Richardson, was still a member of the Club at the time of her death in 1974, aged 102. Over the years there have been a number of intermarriages and many swimming dynasties; families with three generations of swimmers have not been unusual, although all three swimming concurrently is less common.

The 1970s heralded wild fashions, flowered polyester shirts and bell bottomed trousers, platform shoes and "the wider the better" ties and droopy moustaches for the wannabe hippies. In line with these changes the Club made the token gesture of changing the Club colours from Black and White to Mauve! The coming of the next, more sophisticated, decade also heralded new Club colours. In June 1981 we decided on two-tone blue. New tracksuits were purchased to keep the gala swimmers warm between races. They remained the property of the Club and were washed by long-suffering parent volunteers between galas! In 1987 these tracksuits were superseded for a limited time by flashy, shiny, predominantly white and totally impractical "shell suits".

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