Look around historic 200-year-old lido with stunning seaside views abandoned for decades
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A POPULAR seaside town was once home to an outdoor lido that attracted visitors from far and wide.
Now the historic location lies empty, with the over 200-year-old pool filled with sand.
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The Cliftonville Lido has been closed since the late 1970s, with the entire facility closing in the early 2000s
Credit: Alamy
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The tidal pool could hold 1,000 bathers at a time and featured a terraced amphitheatre for spectators
Credit: Alamy
Cliftonville saw its iconic Clifton Baths, which were constructed in 1824, converted into a massive outdoor pool in 1926.
The facility was officially named the Cliftonville Lido in 1938 and could hold up to 1,000 bathers at a time.
It was designed to be filled daily by the tidal flow and even included a terraced amphitheatre with seating for spectators.
This proved especially handy for the various swimming competitions and water spectacles hosted at the venue.
Over the years of operation the Cliftonville Lido even held various beauty pageants, including a "Miss Lido" competition in 1953.
Unique features
The premises, which measures just under 80,000 square-feet, also included cafes, bars, diving boards, slides, and promenade terraces.
This Grade II listed establishment is excavated into the cliffs, offering stunning views of the coastline.
The building features bright red roof‑tiles, Art Deco porthole windows, and the iconic four‑sided 'Lido' beacon.
It also boasted one of the earliest seawater plunge baths, a domed circular chamber, and a tunnel for storing bathing machines, all of which are unique to Britain.
The lido thrived from the 1940s to the 1970s, even featuring an aquarium, zoo, billiard hall, puppet theatre, and nightclubs.
Historic UK lido with 'stunning' mountain views that has been abandoned for decades
Closure of facilities
However, the outdoor pool closed around 1977 or 1978 and was filled with sand.
The last nightclub on the premises closed in the 1980s while the lido bar and snooker hall remained open until the 2000s.
It was awarded historical status in 2008 for its rare architectural and historical value, with part of site collapsing due to disrepair over the years.
And while it was acquired by private owners, the part of the complex conatining the outdoor pool is council‑owned.
Local volunteers have helped to clear debris from the premises while the group Save Margate Lido CIC continues a campaign to restore the site for mixed community, leisure, cultural, and retail use.
Swimming safety advice
Experts have revealed some of their top advice for both adults and kids heading to the water this summer:
How to stay safe at the beach
Gareth Morrison, Head of Water Safety at the RNLI said: "If you find yourself being swept out to sea in a rip, try to relax and float until you are free from the rip and you can then swim to safety.
"If you see someone else in danger, alert a lifeguard or call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard."
How to stay safe at the swimming pool
Tiny Hearts Education, former paramedic and CEO Nikki Jurcutz said: "Always put your little one in bright or contrasting colours that would be easy to find in an emergency.
"It only takes 20 seconds to drown, little tips like this could save a life".
An Auqabliss spokesperson added: 'Swimming toys such as noodles, dive rings, floaties and beach balls can be dangerous if left in the pool.
'Children may try to grab these from the pool's edge and fall in."
How to stay safe at a waterpark
Ali Beckman, Puddle Ducks Technical Director, said: "Never send a child down the slide on their own, not only are they going to be entering the slide pool area independently, they then have to exit the pool and wait for an adult.
"And wave pools should be avoided until your child is really confident with water going over their faces and you know they are able to regain their feet independently.
'Waterparks are often very busy places and it's easy to lose sight of a child in a split second."
Cliftonville Lido offers a glimpse into Margate's seaside heyday and was even the site where renowned artist Tracey Emin is said to have learned to swim.
Other UK lidos
Plus, all the lidos you can visit around the UK to cool off in the summer heat.
And a historic lido with stunning mountain views that has been abandoned for decades.
A popular UK beach town also plans to reopen a beloved lido for the summer season.
And a round-up of the lesser-known lidos you can visit to beat the scorching heat.
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The lido was filled with sand after it was officially closed to prevent it being filled by the tide
Credit: Alamy
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The area of the facility that includes the outdoor pool is owned by the local council
Credit: Alamy
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The lido proved a popular destination for tourists and locals alike, with a restaurant, bar, nightclubs, and even an aquarium and zoo on-site
Credit: Alamy
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This was the early Sixties when one band in particular caught Iommi's ear — The Shadows led by his guitar hero Hank Marvin. 5 The band now, from left Bill, Geezer, Ozzy and Tony ahead of their last gig Credit: Ross Halfin 'I used to listen to the Top 20 on my little radio,' he says. 'The Shadows really inspired me because I loved their sound and style. 'They were an instrumental band and it was great because I had something to learn and to relate to. Then I could go off and do my own thing.' I thought that I'd become involved in the scene in some way and I didn't expect to become a musician Iommi Iommi was also shaped by his tough upbringing in Aston. Of the neighbourhood where he lived, he says: 'It was rough and gang infested. You had to be careful walking round the streets because you'd get beaten up if you were in the wrong area. 'I started doing martial arts — judo and karate — purely to protect myself,' he continues. 'I went training three or four times a week. 'I thought that I'd become involved in the scene in some way and I didn't expect to become a musician.' Iommi recalls having 'a dream of being on a stage, look-ing out, I always thought it was to do with martial arts but, of course, it wasn't. I later realised it was about being on stage playing guitar'. At 17, he had a horrific industrial accident which would have a profound effect on Black Sabbath's signature heavy guitar sound. While operating a guillotine press in a sheet-metal factory, Iommi lost the tips of the middle and ring fingers on his right hand. He says: 'I went to the hospital and they said, 'You might as well forget playing the guitar'. 'I just couldn't accept that attitude so I made my own fingertips with thimbles. I had to come up with a totally different way of playing. 'I also worked on the guitar all the time. I had it in bits and put it back together, trying to make it more comfortable to play. 'Eventually, that extended to experimenting with amplifiers, making a sound that would be more full.' By the time Sabbath, originally known as Earth, got together in 1968, Iommi was on a mission to make a success of it despite financial hardships. 5 Black Sabbath's Top Of The Pops performance Credit: supplied 'Oh God, I drove the bloody van!' he exclaims. 'Unloaded the gear, played, drove back. 'We were hard up. We might make 15 quid and, on our way home, stop off and spend it all at a fish and chip shop. 'But it was great because we started from nothing and we went through the whole thing together. 'We became glued to each other, we lived in each other's pockets, and it really made us a band.' Iommi continues: 'The name was Geezer's idea after he watched a Boris Karloff film called Black Sabbath. It was appropriate for our music and it stuck. 'When we were Earth, we got misbooked because they thought we were a pop band. We absolutely died a death!' An all-important step for Sabbath, like any up-and- coming act, was getting a record deal. Iommi remembers how it happened: 'We used to play at a club in Birmingham where Jim Simpson, who became our first manager, would get people to come down and see us. 'Of course 99 per cent of them said 'no' and one per cent said 'yes'. We were playing something different. In those days, it was all soul, not our kind of music.' The self-titled debut album contains the song Black Sabbath which bears Iommi's first great riff. He regards it as their breakthrough moment. 'That track hit home,' he says. 'It was so different and we knew straight away, 'That's it, that's what we want to do, that's the benchmark'.' 'Screaming girls' Iommi took on a lot of the responsibility at the time, getting the others out of bed and into the studio by 9am. 'Everybody needs somebody to direct them,' he affirms. 'Otherwise it turns into chaos.' 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And yet the song itself was almost an afterthought, as he explains. 'When we were finishing the album, we went out to get something to eat. 'The producer came out and said to me, 'We need another track. We haven't got enough tracks'. So I had to come up with Paranoid. I waited for the others to come back and played it to them. 'Geezer wrote some lyrics, the guys learnt the song and we recorded it there and then. 'It was supposed to be filler but it was the one that took off — and we ended up on Top Of The Pops.' Appearing on the UK's premier pop showcase went against everything Sabbath stood for in their quest 'to be an album band taken seriously for our music'. Iommi says: 'It was funny. You've got people like Cilla Black and then us. Bloody odd combination, it was! 'And the last thing we wanted to do was attract screaming girls.' After Paranoid, Sabbath were on a roll, producing a string of high-octane, high-quality albums — Master Of Reality (1971), Vol.4 (1972), Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973) and Sabotage (1975). 'For each album, we tried different things,' says Iommi. 'On Master Of Reality, I started tuning down a bit to get an even heavier sound. 5 Appearing on the UK's premier pop showcase went against everything Sabbath stood for in their quest 'to be an album band taken seriously for their music' Credit: supplied 'The whole vibe on Vol. 4 was great. We went to Los Angeles where John du Pont was unfortunate enough to rent us his house. 'It was a fantastic place with a ballroom, swimming pools and, God, did we have some fun.' It was only after ten years in the business that the wheels started to fall off for Sabbath, resulting in Ozzy's exit. 'Obviously, drugs were involved,' says Iommi. 'It got to a stage where Ozzy had lost interest. He'd go missing for a couple of days in Los Angeles — things like that. 'I was nominated to go to the record company and make all the excuses. We were coming up with riffs but it just wasn't going anywhere. 'It got to a point where I had to say, 'Look, we'll have to replace Ozzy or break up'. At the time, it was best for both of us and Ozzy went off and did his own thing.' Sabbath regrouped with Ronnie James Dio taking over on lead vocals, the first of a succession of singers. Then, in the late Nineties, the original Sabbath reformed and toured until 2005. Minus drummer Ward, they got back together for the Rick Rubin-produced 13 (released in 2013) and played live again until 2017. Now, eight years on, Sabbath are making their last stand. They've all had well-documented health issues but Iommi and Ozzy see the funny side. Ozzy even called himself 'Iron Man' after surgeons inserted bolts in his neck following a fall at his home in the outskirts of Los Angeles 'He should be called the Six Million Dollar Man,' laughs Iommi. 'I hear from him every few days and we complain to each other. 'We've all had problems so it's quite an achievement for us to get on stage again after so many years. 'We'll do the gig – then we'll probably keel over!'
