Britain’s divers look set to return to one of the country’s finest Lidos – thanks to a £10million restoration project.

Crowds first packed into Broomhill Lido in Ipswich in 1937- and by the 1970s and 80s as many as 2000 swimmers a day were cooling off in its waters.

Now, more than two decades after it was shut down, rebuilding work is due to begin- and the venue’s champions hope a new generation will plunge into the open air pool.

Campaigner Mike Ling, 55, who swam there as a boy, said: ‘We’ve fought for 22 years to save Broomhill – it’s not a matter of life and death but it’s one of those places that makes life worth living.’

Old photographs from 1947 show Ipswich man Ray Marshall demonstrating a perfect swallow dive (pictured) 

Broomhill Pool, pictured on Saturday 30 April, 1938. It is one of the last surviving outdoor lidos

Broomhill pool pictures in the 2000s after it was closed and fell into a state of disrepair

A CGI design of how the Broomhill lido may look after the £10million refurbishment

Pictured, people swimming in the lido in 1965s. People have campaigned for decades to save the lido

Huge crowds of people queue to get access to the lido. The photo was taken in the 1970s at the height of its popularity

At 15 feet deep the Grade 2 listed Lido has the joint deepest pool in the country- and is famous for its Wicksteed diving stage, with boards at 1,2, 3, 4 and 5 metres.

Along with Faversham in Kent they are the highest outdoor diving boards of any public pool in the country- and the last ones in the world.

Old photographs from 1947 show Ipswich man Ray Marshall demonstrating a perfect swallow dive – while rare black and white footage from the same year features one-time British Olympian Betty Slade and ‘Tarzan Himself!’ – an unnamed man in a loin cloth – in a remarkable diving exhibition.

Leicester-born Betty competed in the women’s 3 metre springboard event at the 1936 Summer Olympics and won a gold medal in the 3m women’s springboard event at the 1938 European Aquatics Championships. She later turned pro and took part in shows across Britain. She died in the USA in 2000 at the age of 79,

By the 1970s and 80s as many as 2000 swimmers a day were cooling off in its waters. Pictured, people in the 1970s packed in the lido

Today the lido is in disrepair. Rebuilding work is due to begin- and the venue’s champions hope a new generation will plunge into the open air pool

People swim in the lido on a hot day in the 1990s. Funding for the Lido project was finally agreed in January after Covid 19

The lido is pictured in the 1990s. Work is about to start on a new modern version of the Lido

Photo of the drained pool revealing the huge depth. It was taken in April, 1996 by John Carter (Senior Lifeguard)

Ray, a D-Day veteran, died in 2018 aged 93.

The structure they both soared from at Broomhill back in the day is too rickety and the ladders too steep for today’s stricter Health and Safety laws.

But work is about to start on a new modern version of the Lido – which closed in 2002 because of those safety regulations and a lack of funding.

And while the Wicksteed platforms will be preserved for posterity, the plan is to add new diving boards for a new generation of divers, after the pool reopens in early 2026.

The news comes as pictures are released showing just how the new Lido will look – complete with a 700 seat grandstand, children’s pool and sun terraces.

The lido pictured in 1938. At 15 feet deep the Grade 2 listed Lido has the joint deepest pool in the country

Another CGI rendering of how the lido might look. The plans were drawn up by Alan Wilkinson, of KLH Architects

Broomhill pool pictured in 1983. A man can be seen in mid air while attempting a dive

The main 55 yard pool will also be heated in spring and summer –not something most previous swimmers enjoyed because the old boilers were removed during the Second World War.

Funding for the Lido project was finally agreed in January after Covid 19 delayed the project and rising energy prices sent costs rocketing.

But Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) and National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) increased their financial stake alongside partner Fusion Lifestyle, a not for profit trust which will deliver the restoration and run the site once planning is approved, as it’s expected to be, next month.

The plans drawn up by Alan Wilkinson, of KLH Architects, were tweaked – and the amended images were made public last weekend.

Mr Wilkinson said: ‘I’ve always said I wanted to swim in the pool before I retired. I had wondered about that, but we’re getting there.’

It’s hoped spades will be in the ground as early as September.

Mark Rogers from Fusion Lifestyle said: ‘Once the final planning is granted we hope to get in diggers fairly quickly. People have waited a long time for this.’

Broomhill lido pictured in the 2020s. It has taken two decades of campaigning to get the lido reopened

Broomhill lido pictured in 2018. The main 55 yard pool will also be heated in spring and summer –not something most previous swimmers enjoyed

The Broomhill Lido Trust has been at the forefront of what it describes as the ‘epic campaign’ to save the site.

Its chairman, Mr Ling, has a particular interest. He was born in a house opposite and his parents met at the pool and enjoyed their first dates there.

‘It’s a magnificent Lido- a throwback to the 1930s but an absolute peach.,’ he said. ‘It’s Ipswich’s happy place and we’ve fought tooth and nail to save it.

‘Planning permission is due to go in this month – the scheme is fundamentally the same as the one approved in 2019 so we’re very hopeful.

People pack the lido in the 1970s when thousands of people regularly visited the pool

The lido fenced off and in disrepair. Pictured in 2018, a year before the original planning permission

‘Here in Ipswich, we’ve had 23 school pool closures in the past 20 years.’

He said the Wicksteed diving stages- designed by the Kettering-based play equipment manufacturer Wicksteed and made from scaffolding and wooden boards- gave the Lido particular historical interest.

‘We want to keep them in some shape or form – preserve and store them. But for us the key is diving.

‘We’ve kept the 15ft pool depth so diving can take place. It was so universally loved in Ipswich and such a big thing – particularly off the 5 metre board.

‘But we want to put another diving stage in its place, and we need a electronic boom – to provide the partition between the diving and swimming areas.’

And with that likely to cost another £250,000, the campaign certainly isn’t over yet!