25 February 2008
Metro (p.28)
For more than a hundred years, Victoria Baths and its elaborate red-brick clock tower has stood impressively over Sneinton Market. Originally built to ensure that the local slum – residents got a proper wash, in more recent times leisure and fitness have taken over, with the installation of an Olympic-sized swimming pool, gym hall, and the ornately tiled steam rooms, OK, so an out-of-town leisure centre might be more efficient, but the attention to detail and architectural grandeur of this building is worth preserving – and its Turkish baths wouldn’t look out of place in one of Sherwood Forest’s well-heeled health spas. With the closure of the facilities as the first move in a plan for future demolition, locals are now rallying support for the landmark building ahead of the final decision, to be announced on March 18. Sat, meet outside Council House, Market Square, Nottingham, 11.30am.