Listed Birkenhead baths reopened to public after restoration

A charity which saved a derelict swimming baths from the bulldozers has said it is "over the moon" that the site has reopened to the public.

Birkenhead's Byrne Avenue Baths closed in 2009, but was saved eight years later, following a public campaign.

The Rock Ferry building, which first opened in 1933, was given Grade II listed status in 2014.

Byrne Avenue Trust's Peter Sherlock said the charity "always believed" the site would be open to the public again.

The trust has opened the first phase of its project to renovate the baths, following extensive work on the building.

It hopes to bring a sports hall and community room, along with the original swimming pool and baths, back into use, alongside a new cafe.

Mr Sherlock said the trust had seen a host of "fabulous volunteers" help with the restoration and "every penny we have raised has gone back into the project".

"We always believed we could do it, we always believed the demand and the desire was there for the building to be reopened," he said.

"It's the most incredibly loved building.

"When you say you are working with Byrne Avenue Baths, people smile and then they tell you 'I learned to swim there'."

The trust said the remainder of the work on the building would be funded via a public appeal and a grant application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

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