The pool
A triangular Art Deco lido on the Cornish coast, half filled with Atlantic seawater, half with geothermal warmth.
Opened in 1935 to mark the silver jubilee of King George V, the Jubilee Pool is Britain's largest surviving seawater lido — a sharp white triangle jutting into Mount's Bay at the edge of Penzance. After storm damage threatened its survival, a community-led restoration reopened it in 2020 with a new geothermal section heated by water drawn from 410 metres below ground.
The main pool remains brisk Atlantic seawater, refreshed by the tides; the smaller geothermal pool sits at a steady 30 degrees, year-round. Swim a lap in each and you have done a Cornish equivalent of the Nordic plunge ritual.
