former Ocean Hotel, Saltdean

I took these photos of the former Ocean Hotel in Saltdean around 2001. It was opened as he Ocean Hotel in 1938 but was taken over by the Auxiliary Fire Service during WWII and later became a fire service college. In 1952 the lease was acquired by Billy Butlin and operated as a Butlins Holiday Centre until 1999 when it was sold to the Grand Hotel Group and it remained as a hotel until 2005. Since then the Grade II Listed main building has been converted into apartments.

References:
Butlins Ocean Hotel, Saltdean, Butlins Memories.

A House in Saltdean

An interesting Modernist house in Saltdean in the south of England.

A House in Saltdean

I decided to post this Modernist house in Saltdean because I've recently heard that the wonderful Art Deco Lido in that small town in the south of England is under threat from developers who plan to fill in the pool and built over 100 flats on the site.

I wrote about the Saltdean Lido last November having visited there in either 2000 or 2001. It is a majestic building with the large pools in front.

There is a campaign underway to try to save this great example of British summer holidays. Details of public meetings held in the area have been written up in The Argus newspaper with one option proposing that a public consortium purchase the Lido and operate the facility.

The building is heritage listed but that does not include the swimming pools. For more information on the Campaign to Save Saltdean Lido visit http://www.saltdeanlidocampaign.org.

Saltdean Lido, Saltdean

The Saltdean Lido was designed by architect R H W Jones and was opened in 1938.

Saltdean and Rottingdean Local Historian, Douglas d'Enno, author of The Saltdean Story has provided some wonderful information for the www.saltdean.info website. The site includes historic photos of the lido and details of Saltdean during the pre-War period.

d'Enno draws comparisons between the Saltdean Lido and the 1935 De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea. There are certainly common elements.

Lidos were very popular in the UK during the 1920s and 30s but now many have survived into the 21st Century. It is nice to see Saltdean Lido is one of the rare survivors.

Bethany, Saltdean

This wonderful house is in Saltdean, near Brighton on the south coast of England.

It is now called Bethany but in a former life was know as Bedford and according to 'The Ocean Hotel, Lido and the War' at www.saltdean.info, the house was central to The Saltdean Fellowship, a self-help residents organisation whose objectives were 'tending to casualties, helping the homeless destitute through war and organizing first aid and home nursing classes and also organising working parties for providing required items by the fighting and mercantile services, providing social functions and to generally promote a sense of community spirit'.

'Most Fellowship meetings were held at 'Bedford', now 'Bethany' in Arundel Drive West, home of Mrs Hill, and over 5 years mountains of garments (1626 woolens alone) were sent for dispatch to the services, Merchant Navy and the blitzed people of Britain and Russia. On 25 November 1940, Miss Margaret Hardy returned to 'Bedford' to a sale of household goods, garments and fancy leather work which sold so quickly that when a reporter from the Herald arrived halfway through the day most of the goods had gone. This raised a huge £56 for deserving causes'.

Bethany is now used as holiday accommodation.