How many RAF stations have swimming pools?
 

Just twigged pretty much every USAF / US Army aviation / USN?USMC (obligatory) has swimming pools as part of sports facilities but not every RAF station. One would have thought that be mandatory re fitness especially with the likes of Shawbury and Valley should have?

cheers

I believe Halton's pool is still operating but probably for not much longer; Witterings is probably still open too.

Odiham used to have a pool, but it was in the last century.

CG

We did not have one at Bruggen, but we did have an EWS with a blue liner and changing rooms. Halton and Cosford I know had official pools,

Cranwell, Kinloss, Wyton and Langar had pools, although the RCAF may have built the latter.

YS

Odiham still had a pool this century

Are you sure, i though Bruggen had one, just up from 431 MU and along the main fence... It was an open air one.

here you go, top right, follow the row of curved houses to the left where the road splays out and that is the pool?


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Wittering hasn't had a pool since at least 1994.

Cranwell and Cosford do.

There are probably now more pools remaining than RAF stations…..

RAF Nicosia had an excellent outdoor swimming pool which was very popular with most personnel, including the CO and his family. On one occasion my wife and I had just arrived and as we were making our way to the changing rooms the CO did a double-take and said to my wife "I'm so sorry, I didn't recognise you with your clothes on!"

St Athan had a pool and diving platform. Used mainly to scare the bejesus out of the trainees!

Can nearby beaches count?

And a damned fine one it was.

Trust me, we didn't to the best of my knowledge. As I recall, the Station tried to get a pool built but was denied permission. Long before my time, they got round it by having an EWS tank for the purposes of firefighting. Non public funds were then used to add filtration and changing rooms etc, but on paper, it was an EWS. The pool was kind of on my slop chit as the PEdO was part of my organisation.

Kinloss had a pool?

Please tell me that was pre ‘92 because I don’t remember one at all.

If it was there between ‘92 and ‘99 then I obviously spent even more time in the Abbey than I thought.

Brize Norton.

Binbrook had an open-air pool in 1972 as I used it during air cadet annual camp based at Manby . I don't remember much about the pool but the Lightnings bashing the circuit were great !

Laarbruch had one and very popular it was!

Kinloss had an indoor pool up until at least 1984. It was on the south side and I think this might be it:


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Tengah, along with many other establishments in Singapore, had one. Indeed, just before the run-down was announced, we were planning one for the Officers Mess in lieu of the underused tennis courts. Oh, the heady days of Empire … “Where shall we swim today, darling?”

Akrotiri had an outdoor salt water pool which fell into disrepair. In the late 1980s, due to lack of support and funding from the Station, the families held many events to fund a new pool, which eventually opened opposite the Pen Club.

The Station then assumed control of the pool as a Unit asset, which led to much disenchantment among the pool organisers and, a small but noticeable group boycotted the pool.

Bahrain, RAF Muharraq had a very good pool. I remember racing Dickie Henderson three lengths when he visited with a CSE Show. {After a few beers}

Kinloss definitely had a pool in the 70's. Used it many times for dinghy drills and inter squadron competition.

Too much time in the Abbey. Pool, was alive and well until the Army ran it into the ground, despite offers from ex-RAF to run it for them at zero cost.

Nope, sorry, Bruggen certainly had a pool located near those 3 two storey blocks on the road that went past the NAAFI and then turned left to run parallel with the main drag...it was also on the downwind leg which led to spurious allegations as to "low flying" to observe ladies there....alas, the originator of this claim, after escalating his complaints, was kindly invited for a free ride in a glider....and, as was kindly pointed out to him, from around 600ft, just how much of the female anatomy was visible ?.....the complaints mysteriously ceased at this point.

In fact, if you go on the Bruggen FB page, there are numerous posts / photo's showing families enjoying themselves.

I think Ninethace was doing his best to show that his tongue was firmly in his cheek.

Off piscine subject. Brize had a dry ski slope. No idea if it’s still there though

Wildenrath had an outdoor pool. I met Mrs Akro there. I think I've still got my Speedo's somewhere:ok:

I think Gutersloh had a pool but rose-tinted spectacles?

JHQ Rheindahlen had both an outdoor pool ["the Bluey" ]with bar and club, plus a dry-ski slope. I think the latter was gonned by our second tour in 1990.

The older teenagers went to the Bluey to misbehave. Unfortunately the younger airmen and soldiers went there for the same purpose. We had two daughters, both gorgeous. Thus many an anxious Friday evening, and deadlines, strictly policed by SWMBO, who could assume the mien of a dragon.

You are getting there. On paper, Brüggen never officially had a pool, it was an Emergency Water Supply. It even had a EWS sign on the fence as I recall. The station used it as a pool via Non Public Funds. I can't really be clearer.:ugh:

Honington had one - at least in the mid to late 80s. Henlow also at turn of the millennium. Both still in operation according to a quick internet search.

Kinloss-
 

Definitely had an indoor pool in 1996, we were bussed in from Lossiemouth for our proficiency certificate.

At Turnhouse in 1994 we went to a pool, but a bit of thinking about it reveals it was at Dreghorn barracks in Edinburgh.

Just as the golf club at Brüggen was an alternative sick quarters and the links emergency helicopter landing pads.

Showing my age, but RAF Langar had a pool.

Colerne had a decent pool until the station closed in '76 due to the defence cuts. Overall, it was a pretty good posting except for the lack of WRAFs.

El Adem

I left two front teeth on the bottom, (we had drunk some of it when the artesian wells dried up).

IG

I was last there in '72, and recall going to Elgin for Dinghy drills.

RAFC Cranwell in 1974. A student officer from an aristocratic background with an honours degree having been allocated to the last GE of the year, joined as a Flt Lt pilot such was the weirdness of the time. He also outranked his blunty direct entry Fg Off flight commander...

On being 'invited' by some PTI to swim lengths in the Whittle Hall swimming pool, he announced "Well, Cpl, what you need to know is that people in my world do not 'swim', they 'bathe'!". A floating bar in an expensive part of the world was more his scene than a tank of warm water at Cranwell!

[QUOTE] RAF Nicosia had an excellent outdoor swimming pool which was very popular with most personnel, including the CO and his family. On one occasion my wife and I had just arrived and as we were making our way to the changing rooms the CO did a double-take and said to my wife "I'm so sorry, I didn't recognise you with your clothes on!"[/QUOTE]

The place to be when on standby with the UN helicopters. 1969

RAF Ascension Island had/has a pool at the Accom area somewhere on the road up to Green Mountain.