Saving lives at Langold Lake
TO SEND US YOUR FEATURES IDEAS CLICK HERE THE legend goes that one day, when a miner was out walking, he saw a woman in difficulties swimming in Langold Lake.
Fully clothed, Jim Bartlett plunged into the lake to save her.
When his colliery manager heard, he urged Jim to start a rescue
training club – and so Firbeck Life Saving Section was born.
Before long it would develop into the area's premier voluntary life-saving and teaching club and it all started slowly.
School children were encouraged to join – swelling membership to 30 and
beyond but not just anyone could join.
"Participants had to prove they were self-sufficient to ensure their well-being in the water," said a former club member.
Throughout the post-war years, lifeguards at Langold Lake were a
necessity male and female members reported to the lake at weekends to make sure visitors were kept safe.
"Part of the duty included lighting fires in both the male and female changing rooms," said the spokesman.
"None of our members did it for money but those on duty were given five
shillings per session to buy food and drinks from the local cafe.
"And they had to take in paper, sticks and coal from their homes for the fires!"
There were several large families in the area and several children eventually took their brothers and sisters along to the club.
With the onset of winter, interest in swimming in the lake's ice cold water waned, except for the hardy – some of whom would break the ice for a Christmas Day dip.
So, to keep members interested through the cold weather the club organised weight training sessions and eventually hired Worksop College Baths to keep up their swimming skills.
In the 1950s and 60s the club introduced a sub aqua section, kitting
themselves out with under water diving equipment and a compressor to put air in their own cylinders.
Notts Police soon latched–on to what was happening and eventually started their own training sessions at the lake.
The club quickly became a force to be reckoned with competitively.
"We won the William Henry Memorial Trophy so many times that we eventually withdrew from the contest to give other clubs the chance to compete and be successful," said the spokesman.
Over the years many members served on the executive committee of the
Sheffield branch of the RLSS and attended monthly meetings at the oldest Victorian baths in the Country – on Glossop Road.
In 1951 the St John Ambulance Brigade, that had an active branch with facilities at the rear of Firbeck Colliery, hosted a visit from the organisation's patron, Princess Margaret.
As part of the celebrations, the club was asked to organise a life-saving display.
This meant that eight members – four boys and four girls – would be made
SJAB members for the day to demonstrate different methods of rescue.
To make sure everything was just right on the day, the pool was emptied and painted blue beforehand. Consequently, all training took place without water!
On the day of the visit there were no crowds at the lake. The public were not allowed in and police officers were sited right around the area – inluding both changing rooms.
At the height of the lake's popularity the Swimming Section and the Life
Saving Section joined forces each summer and staged a spectacular gala day.
As well as races, displays of life-saving always proved to be show-stoppers.
"Each year there was a special feature," added the spokesman.
"On one occassion a tight-rope walker had a narrow escape when a visitor
started to climb a pylon which secured the high–wire while the walker was walking across it, causing it to rock from side to side."
"This was quite a predicament which was only resolved when the police got him down and took him away."
On another occasion, London's Highgate Diving Club was the star
attraction. Included in the party was a slightly-built 11-year-old lad called Brian Phelps, who some years later was to represent his country at the Olympic Games.
Over the years the lake, bathing pool and recreation ground were all widely used by local children – both in the war years and afterwards.
But sadly, although the pool is still there it is no longer in use; the skills and dedication of members of the once thriving life-saving club now a distant memory.
And although some people would love to see the pool refurbished and enjoyed once more, others feel the project would prove to be too expensive.
Some even claim that because the pool was made by miners it should stay as it is and not be filled in.
In the beginning it sat in well–maintained gardens with steps leading up to the changing rooms – all of which have long-since disappeared after spates of vandalism.
Added the spokesman: "Langold Country Park is now very nicely maintained, but the pool is something of a blot on the landscape. I really do think that something should be done about it."
In the meantime, former members of the Life Saving Section have a host of memories to reflect upon, proud of the times when their commitment kept a major local attraction safe and accidentfree.
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Weather for Worksop
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -3 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South
