Community Sports & Leisure Centres
Swimming Baths were frequently developed alongside public halls and other community entertainment spaces.
Some swimming baths were boarded over in the winter and provided opportunities for social dances, events and indoor sports.
The first purpose-built UK indoor sports centre for the community opened in Harlow in 1964 and this led to over four thousand centres in the country. The centres continue to make a significant contribution to the social, sporting and recreational lives of communities.
Sports Legacy Project
In 2015 Gerry Carver founded the ‘Sports Leisure Legacy Project’.
“The project records the history of the development of the UK community sports & leisure centres and the recreation management profession it initiated.”
That story was presented as a web site in 2023 and can be viewed using the link below.
Sports Leisure Legacy Project – The story of the UK Sports & Leisure Centre Past, Present and Future