Victorian Turkish Baths Picture of the Month for August 2011
In our Picture of the Month
for May 2009 we asked,
'Do you know where this shampooing room
is—or was?'
We now know that it was
the shampooing room
at the Stanley Turkish baths
which closed in 1997
This photograph was taken some time in the 1990s when I was researching Victorian-style Turkish baths somewhere north of Watford. Unfortunately I forgot to label it and my aged memory had completely forgotten where I took it.
I thought for many years that it was Eston (now sadly closed) but I was assured by several people (including some who worked there) that it definitely was not.
Now a visitor to the site, Howard Phillips, has written to say that he,
recognised the room instantly. It is the main room within the Turkish and Sauna Suite of The Leisure Centre in Stanley County Durham. The slabs are massage tables with shower heads for rinsing down.
Seeing the picture reminded me of my visits to the facilities there every Friday evening and of the many friends dispersed when the building was pre-emptorily demolished about ten years ago, apparently because of faults in the structure. It was one of the best of its kind…
Many thanks, Howard
Howard Phillips for solving the mystery
Maurice for originally suggesting the idea of a mystery picture
Victorian Turkish Baths: their origin, development, and gradual decline
Comments and queries are most welcome and can be sent to:
malcolm@victorianturkishbath.org
The right of Malcolm Shifrin to be identified as the author of this work
has been asserted by him
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
© Malcolm Shifrin, 1991-2023