The swimming pond at Carbeth near Blanefield in Stirlingshire.
Carbeth had been a popular camping site for the Clarion Scouts (a socialist cycling club) on their excursions before the First World War. After the war Mr Barns-Graham, the land-owner, allowed an ex-serviceman to build a hut as a holiday home, and other huts soon followed.
The builders paid a nominal land rent and their wooden huts were mostly rough and ready with few facilities. Nevertheless the hut village became popular with many people of limited means from Glasgow and Clydebank during the 1920s and 1930s, who wanted to enjoy the fresh air of the countryside at weekends and during holidays or periods of unemployment. The hutters dammed a burn to build the swimming pond.
Reference: PP.1985.122
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Museums
Keywords:
Carbeth Hutters, Carbeth Swimming Pond, Clarion Scouts, cycling, holiday homes, holidays, socialism, swimming, swimming pools, unemployed, unemployment, wooden huts