THIS must have been the nearest to wild swimming - a pastime becoming more and more popular today - that anyone could get in a ‘controlled’ area in Skipton.

Moorview Baths, an open air pool, up Shortbank Road, had everything swimmers wanted - changing rooms, diving boards and somewhere for spectators to watch, particularly when it came to the annual gala, when the place was packed.

The cold water would put a lot off today.

The pool was said to have been fed from a stream from Rankin’s Well.

Did you learn to swim there before Aireville Baths opened?

Picture reproduced by permission of the Ellwood and Rowley families.