BC - RECORDS OF BATH CITY COUNCIL AND BATH & NORTH EAST SOMERSET COUNCIL
- BC/13 - Bath as a Spa, Cultural and Tourist centre: records of Bath City Council and Bath & North East Somerset Council's responsibilities for culture, leisure and tourism
  - BC/13/12 - Records relating to the Thermae Bath Spa
    - BC/13/12/1 - Records relating to the Bath Spa Project (1997-2006)
      - BC/13/12/1/1 - Audio recordings of interviews conducted to aid in the development of displays for the Spa Visitor Centre, Bath

Interview with Michael Stockley who describes seeing Bath Rugby players using the Cross Bath and learning to swim there.

Reference Number: BC/13/12/1/1/3
Alternative Reference Number: 0779
Level of Description: Item
Title: Interview with Michael Stockley who describes seeing Bath Rugby players using the Cross Bath and learning to swim there.
Date: 01 September 2005
Extent: 1 minidisc
Description: An audio recording of an interview with Michael Stockley conducted on the 1st September 2005 by Giles White. This interview, along with others, was conducted to aid in the development of visitor displays at the Spa Visitor Centre, which opened in August 2006.

The recording is 00:02:50 long with Giles' voice coming in at 00:00:03. Below are the extracts of what Michael Stockley said during the interview. Please note this is not a complete transcript as the superfluous conversation in between questions has been removed:

[Giles White] 'Okay, so this is Mr. Stockley speaking on 1st of September and first of all he's going to tell us about seeing the rugby club in the Cross Bath'.

[Michael Stockley] 'I remember passing the Cross Bath early on post-war and seeing very muddy dark rugby players trooping in to the front door. I thought, ah, I learnt to swim in there. And knowing that it was nice and warm, just right for getting all the mud off. And I guess it was whilst the clubhouse had been repaired after the war, so the facilities were somewhat lacking. So I don't know how many times it happened'.

[Giles White] 'And then secondly, can you explain how the little circular holes in the wall of the Hot Bath, Beau Street, Bath, came about?'

[Michael Stockley] 'The holes, there was only half of them left now because the main doorway which had a carved stone surround was well decorated, that's gone there, and there's only the basic wall left. But you'll notice half circles cut into the stone. That is caused by us young lads with tuppence in our hands to pay for our entry to the bath, queuing up. And you would start making a mark on the wall because you'd seen it done by others. And you had your own favourite hole which you increased in size every week when you went. And when it got so deep you couldn't go any further, you started another one. But I'm glad they're still there because it's a memory from during the war and immediately post-war'.

[Giles White] 'And then you first learnt to swim in the Cross Bath?'

[Michael Stockley] 'That's right, this is 1944, years I can remember. I lived in what was called Bathavon, which is outside the city, and they let us come in to learn to swim at the Cross Bath as a privilege I guess. It was great because we had no facilities out in the country, never been in a bath in my life. In fact we had a tin bath at home in the kitchen which we used I think once maybe twice a week. So it was a real treat. The water was warm, you weren't out your depth at four foot something. And you could do four or five strokes across. And I learnt to be proficient at swimming in there before we moved on, as I moved, I got older and moved into the town for school into the main tuppenny bath'.
Existence and Location of Copies: Digitised MP3 versions are available on Preservica via internal access at Bath Record Office.