Heritage Walk and Talk at Manuka Pool Sat 20 Apr 2024

Our third annual walk and talk at Manuka Pool took place on Saturday 20 Apr 2024 during the ACT Heritage Festival.

This year’s theme was ‘Connections’ and certainly Manuka Pool is rich with connections, past and present, in our community. From the early years of being the social hub for the fledgling Canberra community to grandparents, who learned to swim at the pool, now bringing their grandchildren to enjoy this Canberra icon.

David Hobbes, a retired Canberra heritage architect, once again regaled an eager group of 18 people with a detailed history of the architecture of the building and interesting stories of the beginnings of what was then ‘The Swimming Pool’. Some attendees provided their own memories of their childhood at the pool and were delighted to revisit the changerooms, the toddler pool and, for some, reminiscing about the old diving board!

We believe this event is important to keep as a regular one in the Heritage Festival calendar as it increases awareness of the importance of the architectural and social heritage of Manuka Pool and visibility of FoMP with our main aim of protecting the pool and surrounds from developers.

One grateful attendee wrote to the Committee later that day and said, “That was a wonderfully informative and enjoyable tour today. Please relay this to your colleagues and thank you for your efforts to conserve the place so it can be enjoyed by us and those who come after us….”

Thanks again to Bryan for opening the facility and having the pool look clean and magnificent and providing some post-talk nibbles.