Charney Hall School, Grange-over-Sands

The swimming pool was constructed at the end of the school vegetable plot which was lovingly cultivated by Charlie and Herbert, the school groundsmen. Whether it was because of cost or convenience that it was decided to go independent of the town’s 1930s open air, salt water pool, we may never know. All we have at the moment is Maxwell Duncan’s famous scripted sketch and a photograph kindly sourced by Christopher Wilson (1959-1963) showing the dig in progress. The project appears to have been a combined effort shared more or less equally between staff and boys.... The appearance of bedrock, seen in the photograph, in one corner of the pool may have been an inconvenient surprise. Did this have any affect on the pool design? Was dynamite used or did this just become the shallow end? Did they provide pool bar and sun loungers....? Maxwell Duncan’s scripted sketch Extract from the School Brochure of the late 1960s Philip Fawcett in attendance with Maxwell Duncan at the far end as long stop