Those words were spoken by Barbara Downing (Gray), former champion swimmer with the Bendigo East Swimming Club. More than 60 years ago, along with about 20 fine swimmers including Fay Masters, Alison Gibson and Dorothy Doyle, Barbara used to go to what was once "dirty water" in the Bendigo East Pool. After swimming, the "family" used to go to MacGregor’s Milk Bar, then opposite St Kilian’s Church.

Val Campbell wrote a History of Bendigo East Swimming Club and Progress Committee to celebrate 44 years of the club.

The author wrote that in the period of the early 1930s, the area bounded by Lansell, Murphy, Lloyd streets and Charleston Road was reserved for the market reserve.

The buildings at the top of Lansell Street were the Bendigo Abattoirs and the surrounding land was used for grazing cattle and sheep waiting to be slaughtered. The area in line with Denovan Street contained a dam fed by natural drainage.

Workers from the abattoirs founded a group called the Abattoirs Charity Club. These workers and their children used the dam for swimming and from this came the idea of constructing a swimming pool. Eager hands using picks and shovels plus a team of horses scooped out the mud to form the banks and as work progressed, Jack Tully, foremen at Hume & Iser, obtained permission to use the drays from that business.

The dimensions of the pool were the length and width of the widest part of today’s pool, with a wire fence erected between the children’s and the main pool. The sides built of red gum planks and diving boards were placed on either side. A tower stood at the northern end containing a platform. The children’s pool had a sheet metal slide, funded through the efforts of a raffle run at dances. The original dressing sheds were made of galvanised iron walls and by 1940 lights were slung across the pool. The area became known as "Moog Park" after the superintendent of the saleyards. Carnivals were held that were open to all-comers and the first pool champions in the 1930s were Jean Taylor and Fred Randall. The carnivals were quite an occasion for local residents.

Swimming races were under the title of Bendigo East Championship and in those days, championships were for the fastest male and female, not in age groups. The Randall family couldn’t find a photo of Fred Randall in swimming togs, so the online image is of Fred in basketball attire.

Notices

Specimen Cottage is at 178-80 Hargreaves Street. Phone 5441 3443.

Victor Onopko Drawing Exhibition – last chance to see and purchase one of these Bendigo landmark buildings. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10am to 4pm

Vahland tours on Tuesday at 2pm at Specimen Cottage; and White Hills Cemetery on Thursday at 2pm. Meet at gates in Holdsworth Road.