Woodup Pool
Opened 1907 · free · no lifeguards
At 1:30pm on 8 June 1907, Lady de Crespigny opened the lake at Woodrolfe in the presence of the Earl of Warwick and a crowd of village people. Tollesbury was bedecked with bunting. The pool has been here ever since.
It is filled entirely by the tide – a sluice gate controls the flow, and the water is flushed out and replenished naturally every ten days or so. No chlorine, no filtration, no heating. The water is salt, grey-green, and cold in any month you care to choose. There is a small sandy beach at one end, picnic tables on the grass, a maximum depth of around eight feet at the centre, and a view of tilting masts and the sail lofts across the creek.
The Parish Council bought the pool in 1925 for £250. It has been managed by the Woodup Pool Committee ever since, run largely by volunteers and funded partly by an annual fundraising event that has been running since the 1950s. Entry is free. It has always been free.
The official season runs from May to September. The unofficial season runs all year – there are people who swim here every single day, in every month, in every weather. No wetsuits required, though you may want one in January.
There are no lifeguards. Swim at your own risk. No dogs in the water or on the beach. Check the tide before you go in.