The People's Pool

The extraordinary story of a pool that’s seen it all, presented by Denise Mina. This Archive on 4 reveals the story of the Govanhill Baths, from its birth as a leading lady of Glasgow’s Municipal Socialist infrastructure, to its central role hosting one of the longest continuous occupations of a civic building in British history, and everything unlikely, romantic and tragic in between.

The stories of the people to whom she belonged come alive with delightful and entertaining vignettes painted using archive oral histories, expert historians, and a measure of Glaswegian patter.

The programme showcases the central role of public baths and wash houses in communities, locating them within the wider picture of changes to working class life throughout the 20th century in Glasgow and Britain. Speaking to Lucy Janes and Niall Murphy in The City Archives, Denise Mina discovers why baths were built in the first place, and unpicks their many uses over the last 150 years.

Now, 25 years on from the original occupation, Denise meets organisers still fighting to re-open her doors, and reflects on the value of civic infrastructure, like local baths and wash houses, today.

Produced by Flora Zajicek
A Big Light production for BBC Radio 4

The programme includes archive audio from The Govanhill Baths Community Trust Archive, The Glasgow City Archives and Special Collections, The School of Scottish Studies Archive, The University of Strathclyde Oral History Department, and BBC Archives. With thanks to all the voices who have made this story sing.