Salthill tidal pool?

Little My

Have been wondering about this for ages...

Does anyone know what the concrete structure off the prom is supposed to be? It's kinda opposite the Galway Bay Hotel if I am visualising it properly.

I had thought it was supposed to be a swimming pool that would fill with seawater, but I have yet to see any amount of water in it. Is that what it was supposed to be?

Seaneh

You mean this?

ErnieBert

It was a seawater pool when I was a kid in the 80's. I often wondered why it doesn't serve this purpose anymore.

dilallio

It was used back in the 70s & early 80s until skangers started breaking bottles when the tide would be out and leaving the glass-shards in the pool. I'm guessing that this is partially responsible.

snubbleste

Is it not a viewing platform to observe Ladies Beach? :cool:

thesandeman

dilallio wrote: »

It was used back in the 70s & early 80s until skangers started breaking bottles when the tide would be out and leaving the glass-shards in the pool. I'm guessing that this is partially responsible.

That probably explains it alright. Used to be in it myself as a kid.

joeKel73

There's drainage pipes out of it now so it drains dry on low tide. I'm guessing that's when it was used in the past?

Storm 10

It was a brilliant and safe pool when it was open, I spent many happy hours there playing in the sand a swimming, great crack when the mackeral would be in, they used to come in through three large holes which filled and drained the pool then they could not get out and we would run around the pool chasing them. It should never have been filled in there is no childrens pool anywhere in Salthill now except in Leisureland

jkforde

there's a heritage-type sign on the wall just beside the steps off the Prom which says Crab Pool....?

thesandeman

jkforde wrote: »

there's a heritage-type sign on the wall just beside the steps off the Prom which says Crab Pool....?

We didn't have showers in those days!

Little My

Thanks for the info - seems like a shame that it is just being left the way it is. It looks pretty bad.

When you see other examples of seawater pools (see http://homepage.ntlworld.com/oliver.merrington/lidos/lidos4.htm for example) I find it hard to understand why Galway council is just content to let everything rot.

A Salthill Lido would be great

Mrs OBumble

Storm 10 wrote: »

It was a brilliant and safe pool when it was open, I spent many happy hours there playing in the sand a swimming, great crack when the mackeral would be in, they used to come in through three large holes which filled and drained the pool then they could not get out and we would run around the pool chasing them. It should never have been filled in there is no childrens pool anywhere in Salthill now except in Leisureland

Ahh, I think Buckfast in bottles has been invented since you were a kid.

Storm 10

JustMary wrote: »

Ahh, I think Buckfast in bottles has been invented since you were a kid.

I am not sure if glass bottles was the reason it was closed, its a shame not to have a pool that was safe and secure for children. I never heard of any child getting into difficulty there and it was great fun when it started to fill with the in coming tide.

Rob A. Bank

It's a shame that it was neglected over the years.

My memory of it, when swimming there as a child, was is that it used to be a few degrees warmer than the sea and shallow enough for children to have a great time.

Little My

JustMary wrote: »

Ahh, I think Buckfast in bottles has been invented since you were a kid.

Other places and other countries manage to have facilities that are maintained and safe - are we really so different?

thesandeman

Unfortunately yes. It appears to be only ourselves and the UK who can't have respect for our fellow public from what I have seen around the general mainland Europe area,

Little My

I don't know about this - I mean they have nice tidal pools in a few places in Ireland and the UK that are not constantly wrecked by people. I think we are guilty of fearing that people will wreck things so we can't have anything nice, so messers kind of win.

Is it a bit of chicken egg syndrome? Can't have anything nice as it will get wrecked, people have no respect for things because its all crappy anyway? The council don't care to maintain things, why should some kids care about public property?

Clearly, I am making more out of this than it is. I just think its a real shame thats all.

Storm 10

Agree with the above post I have been in a number of holiday resorts in the UK and they do have pools for kids that are like the one in Salthill, its a scandal to have filled in such a fine safe swimming/paddling area for kids to use. You only have to look at the diving tower in Salthill I was on it for a walk last week and its in a terrible condition, no maintenance carried out and again its a lovely tower that should be looked after.

It seems to me that the City Council could not care less about Salthill and dont get me started on Grattan beach where they have closed it by putting yellow lines on both sides of the road so you cant park there. :mad::mad:

GekkePrutser

thesandeman wrote: »

Unfortunately yes. It appears to be only ourselves and the UK who can't have respect for our fellow public from what I have seen around the general mainland Europe area,

It's not just here... Where I'm from in Holland they've removed a lot of bus shelters from our local area as they got smashed quicker than they could replace them. That kind of thing is unfortunately everywhere.

And you should see Amsterdam the day after queens day or a footbal win.

snubbleste

Storm 10 wrote: »

It seems to me that the City Council could not care less about Salthill and dont get me started on Grattan beach where they have closed it by putting yellow lines on both sides of the road so you cant park there. :mad::mad:

Grattan Road is still open. Traffic flows freely on the narrow road.
Do you not remember way back that two-way traffic had to give way to on-coming cars due to how cars were parked? This restricted movement which required double yellows on both sides.