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Lido Land
- Author
- Tom Fort
- Narrator
- Mike Sengelow
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Publish Date
- 7 May 2026
- Run Time
- 9 hours 46 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
'Tom Fort has a unique knack of finding new ways to reflect Britain back to ourselves and Lido Land may be his best book yet!' Charlie Connelly, author of The Shipping News
People are currently flocking back to Britain’s lidos in their thousands. But this isn’t the first time they’ve made a splash.
From the author of The A303: Highway to the Sun comes a deep dive into the historical and cultural significance of the British lido that will make you fall in love with outdoor swimming.
Tom Fort takes us on a fun-packed journey around the UK’s lidos past and present, proving that lidos can tell us more about social trends, progress and political ideology than you might think. Along the way he takes us to the only surviving Lido in Wales, built in 1927 to help miners wash off their daily dirt, to the Portobello Pool in Edinburgh where Sean Connery was once a lifeguard, and around the iconic seaside towns of Blackpool and Weston-super-Mare where the loosening of Victorian moral standards could be measured by the shrinking of swimming costumes. Along the way, we meet the beauty queens competing for the Miss New Brighton crown at the Merseyside lido in 1966, a mayor who finished Guildford lido’s opening ceremony by stripping off his robes and gold chain and diving headfirst into the water, and we spend time with the colourful characters involved in designing, creating and keeping lidos afloat through the years.
His journey shows us, time and time again, the personal significance of the lidos’ communal spaces – the unmistakable cold of the water rising above your shoulders, the sounds and smells of poolside sunbathing, the sun-baked tiles underfoot and the warm towel after a freezing dip. Fort, with his characteristic wryness and nostalgia, gathers memories and observations from the swimmers he meets along the way, interspersing these with historical fragments and moments from his own history. He laments the lidos we have lost, celebrates those saved by persistent community organising, and takes a frank look into their future.
Critics Review
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[A] highly entertaining, informative new study - observant and lightly nostalgic ... With wit and scholarship, Fort shows us how lidos, though inspired by quaint notions of what 'continental' swimming must be like, have an intensely British design.
The Spectator
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Entertaining ... Fort, whose wry prose style is jauntily readable, has scoured the archives of local newspapers for funny or odd lido stories, for arguments among aldermen and grand gestures by eccentric philanthropists. He has a feeling for the spirit of the historical past as well as its hard facts.
Literary Review
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A sympathetic, heartfelt narrative
The TLS
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Engaging ... These monuments to optimism still inspire a singular "intensity of devotion"
Country Life
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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All is not lost, for here – with his trunks rolled up in his towel – appears Tom Fort to add an enlightening look at another great British way of life.
Best of British
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Tom Fort has a unique knack of finding new ways to reflect Britain back to ourselves and Lido Land may be his best book yet. Through this watery exploration of lidos, their history, their culture and the people who inhabit them, we learn much about the wider country at large filtered through Fort's customary wit and erudition.
Charlie Connelly, author of Attention All Shipping
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Fort’s book is best at showing how Britain’s lidos belong to a different tradition – of communal pride.
The Oldie
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I found Fort's wit and scholarship compulsive
The Week
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Tom Fort
- Narrator
- Mike Sengelow
- Duration
- 9 hours 46 minutes
- Release Date
- 7 May 2026
- ISBN
- 9781035915200
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Genre
- Travel writing, Swimming and diving, Social and cultural history
Synopsis
Bloomsbury presents Lido Land by Tom Fort, read by Mike Sengelow.'Tom Fort has a unique knack of finding new ways to reflect Britain back to ourselves and Lido Land may be his best book yet!' Charlie Connelly, author of The Shipping NewsPeople are currently flocking back to Britain’s lidos in their thousands. But this isn’t the first time they’ve made a splash.From the author of The A303: Highway to the Sun comes a deep dive into the historical and cultural significance of the British lido that will make you fall in love with outdoor swimming.Tom Fort takes us on a fun-packed journey around the UK’s lidos past and present, proving that lidos can tell us more about social trends, progress and political ideology than you might think. Along the way he takes us to the only surviving Lido in Wales, built in 1927 to help miners wash off their daily dirt, to the Portobello Pool in Edinburgh where Sean Connery was once a lifeguard, and around the iconic seaside towns of Blackpool and Weston-super-Mare where the loosening of Victorian moral standards could be measured by the shrinking of swimming costumes. Along the way, we meet the beauty queens competing for the Miss New Brighton crown at the Merseyside lido in 1966, a mayor who finished Guildford lido’s opening ceremony by stripping off his robes and gold chain and diving headfirst into the water, and we spend time with the colourful characters involved in designing, creating and keeping lidos afloat through the years.His journey shows us, time and time again, the personal significance of the lidos’ communal spaces – the unmistakable cold of the water rising above your shoulders, the sounds and smells of poolside sunbathing, the sun-baked tiles underfoot and the warm towel after a freezing dip. Fort, with his characteristic wryness and nostalgia, gathers memories and observations from the swimmers he meets along the way, interspersing these with historical fragments and moments from his own history. He laments the lidos we have lost, celebrates those saved by persistent community organising, and takes a frank look into their future.
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