Swimming Lessons

A Memory of Kingsbury.

The pool was a lovely place to be on a hot summer day, but not so good in cold weather. I attended Kingsbury County Grammar School nearby, and we had our swimming lessons at the pool. It wasn't easy plucking up courage to jump in on a freezing cold April morning, despite the voice of our PE mistress (fully clothed in warm tracksuit) telling us that it wasn't that cold once we were in the water. The school was strict about uniform, and we were expected to wear one-piece swimsuits, but they forgot to specify colour. My minor rebellion was to wear a bright pink cozzie, which went well with blue skin! My mother remembers the pool for less pleasant reasons - she was about 8, and a non-swimmer, when she was thrown in the deep end and nearly drowned (1939?). She didn't learn to swim for another 35 years.