Downstream

and their own Thames pool at
Reading, only nineteen of
these were ‘ladies’.
By 1912 the pond was open
daily during the summer, with
private dressing boxes for
hire, and, as with other
Thames pools, local schools
used it for swimming lessons.
But the tide washed the sand
away, the beach had to be
renewed several times and by
1930 vandalism had become
a problem. Within a couple of