Bath is full of secrets, well-kept by its citizens. Decades ago, I borrowed a basement flat in one of its Georgian terraces, the cellar of which led to a seemingly infinite system of subterranean passages that ran beneath the pavements. At night, I would lie awake near the centre of this Unesco World Heritage city, listening to the local teenagers screeching and cackling from its flagstoned depths.
When I learnt that Britain’s oldest open-air lido had stood mostly derelict and overgrown on Bath’s fringes for nearly 40 years, I was keen to see this secret, too. The Grade II-listed Cleveland Pools first opened in 1817 and later in the 19th century was run by the eccentric Captain Evans, who had a pet baboon, held spectacular gala parties and apparently would impress onlookers by diving into the pool from a great height, wearing a tall hat to protect his head. After latterly being used as a trout farm, restoration efforts began in 2003 and on September 24 the pools are finally due to reopen to the public once more.