uxbridge lido | the goldilocks triumvirate: too cold
21|02|09

We were planning to get "incognito down the Lido" as we raced across the western suburban sprawl of London. The rays of the perfect February day were ever growing longer and time was running out. The low angles of the sunlight were perfect to capture the "moderne", sheer angles of the decrepit art-deco beauty that was Uxbridge Lido. We were anxious to get there fast.

As we rounded the corner, I immediately saw the game was up. Modern hoardings blocked the road; clay tracks revealed the moments of heavy plant. Peering through the gaps in the boards revealed the flowing concrete structure encased in scaffolding. It was now a building site.

Grade II Uxbridge Lido was getting its Olympian face-lift as part of the rejuvenation of London’s sporting grounds for 2012. It was going to live on, but we’d missed the opportunity to photograph it as a modern ruin. It deftly completed our unwitting Goldilocks Triumvirate: definitely now too cold.

© Simon Cornwell 2010



Former access road to the Uxbridge Road. © Simon Cornwell 2009