THERE’S something eternally intoxicating about swimming in the great outdoors beneath skies of blue on a lazy summer’s day.

All those who sampled the rare delights to be found in the refreshingly cool waters of Bailey Park swimming pool will remember fondly how popular Abergavenny’s watery paradise once was with those who liked to take a dip when the sun burned bright and the temperatures soared like a solar flare.

Sadly, the pool closed its doors for the last time in 1996 due to health and safety issues and a lack of funding.

In April 2006, Monmouthshire County Council decided to fill in the main pool and the adjoining learner pool for fears of vandalism.

The pool which which once held 162,000 gallons of water, and was opened by Mayor W. Rosser in April, 1940 was no more. Now only grass remains and one or two of the original walls, which still stand in mute testimony to Abergavenny’s aquatic adventures.

Interestingly, Swan Meadow was once considered a possible site for an outdoor swimming pool, before the Town Council opted for Bailey Park.

The pool was built for the princely sum of £6,500, and pictured is a snapshot of the pool taken in its glorious Technicolor 1959 heyday.

The pic was snapped by the Chronicle’s dear old friend Udo Schultz.

You might not know but there’s a new campaign gathering momentum on the streets of this old town to not so much re-open the Bailey Park pool, you can’t all that remains is a patch of rather unassuming grass, but to build a brand new state-of-the art Lido. You know, like the bad boy they got up Pontypridd way.

It’s a big ask, but the longest journey begins with the smallest steps, and who knows, if the right people in the right places pull a fair few strokes anything’s possible.

A Facebook community group called Abergavenny Voice, led by the vocal Craig Titchener are leading the charge. They’re pooling their resources and their wave of support is growing in number by the hour.

Celebrities such as Michael Sheen, Owen Sheers, Derek Brockway and Matthew Pritchard are backing the campaign which is making a splash in all the right places, except in the darkened corridors of MCC.

A spokesman for Monmouthshire County Council said, “Re-opening the pool would involve an Herculean effort, as it is no longer there. The site was demolished in 2006 and filled in and is now a fully grassed level area of the park, so any proposal to run an open air swimming pool would involve the initial costs of construction.

“Abergavenny’s small resident population indicates that it would be difficult to write a viable business plan to underpin any proposal for large scale investment in a new pool, either in the park or in another location in the town.”

Such banal practicalities are not enough to stem the tides of collective nostalgia and the hunger for a new pool in Abergavenny remains as fierce as the July sun.

Bonita Stinchcombe, whose maiden name was Kirkwood, spent many a happy day at the old Bailey Park pool in the 1940s.

She told the Chronicle, “I was born in Abergavenny and spent many happy hours there. We lived in Park Close so all the children there had season tickets, the first one was seven shilling and sixpence the second one was twelve shilling and sixpence.

“My sister and I would rush home from school and go straight over to the pool. I also went to the pool with my school come rain or shine; afterwards we would go to the cafe for hot oxo to warm us up.

“I remember when they built the other two pools, one paddling pool and the other where my friends taught me to swim.

“On the weekends it would be very busy they had two sessions 2pm until 4pm, the second 4pm to 6pm.”

Never shy to take a long and meandering trip down memory lane to rake up the past and muddy the waters, the Chronicle’s Don Chambers also has fond memories of Abergavenny’s aquatic paradise and recalled, “When I became a pupil at King Henry VIII Grammar School in the 1940s, I found there was more to learning than Latin and algebra. An hour or so on one day every week during the summer we had ‘swimming lessons’ which meant a trip to the pool in Bailey Park to avoid drowning.

“We ran like gazelles, charging down Pen-y-Fal Road and across the Fairfield to the little gate at the very end while taking off various items of clothing en route. By the time we reached the pool it was just one final ‘strip tease act’ and we were in the water.

“The best part was not splashing ice-cold water over ourselves but plunging in before anyone else. To be first meant the title-holder for that day was revered and even looked up to, even if the ‘winner’ was gasping for breath and had to be pulled out.

“In later years, when I became a reporter, I was invited by Mr Dyer, the pool superintendent, to watch him dive into the inviting waters - in mid-winter. With snow on the ground and ice on the pool, he cut a narrow lane from end to end. As I watched him I shuddered. I never became a strong or even an enthusiastic swimmer - but I did admire that man’s courage.”

Can the people of Abergavenny build a new pool and forge some new memories? The answer’s uncertain but think on this folks - You gotta have a dream if you’re gonna have a dream come true.