Like a luxury spa – where you can enjoy a British Turkish bath revival for £20 | A health and fitness holiday

MMy sister and I are lying on the board like flounder at a fish store. However, instead of a bed of ice, we are stretched out on heated marble. We moved between three hot rooms, each resembling a small chapel with vaulted ceilings, chatted quietly in the cool room, applied face and hair masks in the middle room, and most I’m just lying still in a hot room, sweating. Afterwards, you will receive a scrub and massage. Meanwhile, we take a rain-mist shower to cool off and lie on the bed in a private mahogany-paneled booth under a glass dome.

It seems like a high-end spa with a reasonable price. In fact, this is a 100-year-old public bathhouse. Newcastle City Buses reopened in April after an £8m restoration and a 10-year campaign. A two-hour Turkish bath here costs around £20, which also includes a swim in the upstairs pool.

The City Bus is one of the few surviving Victorian or Victorian-style Turkish buses in the UK. The baths were built in 1927 on the site of an even older bath, Northumberland Baths, which opened in 1859. Despite being Grade II listed in 1992, it was classified as an architecturally significant building in 2012 and is well used and loved by people. Newcastle City Council closed in 2013.

Closings were common. There were once more than 600 Turkish baths in Britain and Ireland. The movement was spearheaded by David Urquhart, a Scottish diplomat and politician who visited hammams in Turkey and Morocco, and Richard Barter, an Irish doctor who pioneered hydrotherapy. . The first Turkish Baths opened in 1856 in Blarney, County Cork. Turkish baths were established in London by 1860 and spread throughout England and Ireland over the next 40 years.

Malcolm Shiffrin, historian and author of The Victorian Turkish Bath, explains its significance: “This cultural facility provided public purification facilities at a time when most people did not have running water, and provided therapeutic benefits and stress relief at a time when modern medicine was still in its infancy. Relaxation facilities are also available. Masu.”

After World War II, more people had access to hot water, and Turkish baths began to decline.

Turkish baths were considered not only for health benefits, but also for social benefits. According to Friends of the City Baths, “Mr. Urquhart watched the workers acquire skills as they built the bathhouses and realized the value of using bathhouse facilities as gathering places.” I also recognized it.”

After World War II, more people had access to hot water and modern medicine, and Turkish baths began to decline. Currently, these are expensive leisure facilities for cash-strapped councils with high maintenance, heating and staffing costs. But, as Shiffrin points out, “many of the buildings that housed Victorian Turkish baths have architectural value.” He highlights that the surviving bathhouses in Harrogate, Manchester, Carlisle, Edinburgh and Glasgow are particularly valuable.

Despite their historical importance, by 1990 only 34 of the original bathhouses were still in operation. There are currently 11 clubs in the UK, three of which are in private members’ clubs, two are closed for refurbishment and only six are open to the public. City Baths is a rare example of a bathhouse that has been brought back from the brink, thanks in large part to a tireless local movement. “It’s really great,” Shiffrin said of the reopening. “We owe it to an amazing group of women who worked freely to keep what was important in life alive.”

Shiffrin first went to the Victorian Turkish Baths in the former Imperial Hotel in London’s Russell Square as a teenager in the 1950s, but the hotel was “ruinfully demolished” in 1967. ”. Since then, he has visited every existing bathhouse, including private ones. clubs (Royal Automobile Club in London, Western Bath Club in Glasgow and Arlington Bath).

The re-opening of Newcastle’s city buses was a welcome relief to campaigners who want other Turkish buses to be revived, including Carlisle Buses, Manchester’s Victoria Buses and Glasgow’s Govanhill Buses. Shiffrin said he has “high expectations” for Carlyle. Carlisle also has an active campaign group, one of whose key members, Julie Minns, is currently an MP. Mr Minns was elected Labor MP for Carlisle in July and mentioned bathhouses in his first speech.

“Victoria Baths also has a strong campaign group, but their problem (and the problem with Govanhill Baths too) is that their Turkish baths are just part of a larger public bathing complex, and that the roof and buildings are It’s just a matter of repairing the structure. It’s a top priority,” Shiffrin said. “Both are now open to the public for a variety of activities, but neither reaches the part of the survival to-do list that includes Turkish baths.”

Another Victorian bathhouse, Swindon’s Health Hydro, closed in April last year but appears most likely to reopen in the near future. Work is currently underway with funding from the Government and the Lottery. Its return will be a real celebration.

“This is the world’s oldest surviving Turkish bath, opened in 1868 by the Great Western Railway’s Medical Fund Society,” Mr. Shiffrin said, adding that he hopes it will reopen next year as planned. I wonder if there is one? “I learned not to be tempted by fate,” he replied.

Elsewhere, some important buildings that once housed Turkish baths remain, but the baths themselves have long since closed. But they are also under threat. “Too many buildings are being torn down or are going to be shortened,” Shiffrin said. He gives the example of the “spectacular” bath buildings in Bishopsgate, London. “It will be effectively obscured by an overhanging office block towering over it, just to give a greedy developer a few extra feet of space in an area already overflowing with empty offices.

Staff at the municipal bathhouse say they have met many elderly people who came to the bathhouse as children decades ago.

“It is essential that the few remaining Victorian and Victorian Turkish baths are preserved, preferably as open baths, as reminders of the essential good that Britain gave the world during the Victorian era. ”

Newcastle residents seem to agree. When we visited the municipal bathhouse, there was a steady stream of bathers, from lone women reading to couples and small groups of friends. One woman said she comes three times a week. Staff said they met many elderly people who had come to the bathhouse as children decades ago and were happy to see it reopen.

Historical significance, architectural splendor and luxury at the price of a leisure center – surely Britain’s last Turkish bath is worth cherishing?

A two-hour Turkish bath, sauna and swim session at City Baths (city‑baths.co.uk) costs £21.50. Accommodation was provided by NewcastleGateshead Initiative and travel was provided by LNER on behalf of newcastlegateshead.com.

10 more British Turkish baths. Here are five you should visit right now…

Turkish bath, Harrogate

These Moorish-style baths opened in 1897 and were restored in 2018. It features Islamic arches and screens, glazed brick, arabesque ceilings and terrazzo floors. Guided history tours are held on Wednesday mornings (8.30am, 45 minutes, £4).
2 hours from £27, turkishbathsharrogate.co.uk

Mount Bath (Northampton)

The city’s Art Deco baths opened in 1936 and feature three Victorian-style hot rooms. Local nature group Northampton Sun Group holds skinny dipping nights here every Sunday (5.30pm to 8pm, £10, nsgswim.org.uk).
Entry to Health Suite (sauna, steam room, Turkish hot room) £8.55, trilogyactive.co.uk

Polchester Spa, London

Located in Bayswater, north of Hyde Park, the spa was built in 1929 and reopened in 2020 following an £800,000 refurbishment. There are three hot rooms, two steam rooms, a sauna and a plunge pool.
From £9.81 for locals, £29.70 for non-residents, Everyonespa.com

Portobello Swim Center, Edinburgh
The only surviving public Turkish bath in Scotland was built in 1898 on the beach in Portobello, a seaside suburb of Edinburgh. There are three hot rooms, a steam room and a plunge pool.
£9.60, edinburghleisure.co.uk

Ironmonger Row Baths (London)

The baths opened on Old Street in 1931 and a Turkish bath was added in 1938. Extensive renovations (from 2010 to 2012 and after fires in 2022) have made the modern luxury spa indistinguishable from the bathhouse of the 1930s, but it still features three conservatories, a sauna, a steam room, and a plunge pool. There is a pool.
2 hours from £40, spa experience.org.uk

And in the near future (hopefully) 5 people are planning to visit

Victoria Bus (Manchester)

This historic pool and Turkish bath opened in 1906 and closed in 1993. Since then, Manchester Victoria Bus Trust has partially reopened the building for tours and events such as exhibitions and festivals. The aim is to restore the entire building and return it to full public use, including the Turkish baths.
Free entry, guided tours cost £9, open Wednesdays from 11am to 3pm from April to September. Events are also held from March to November. Donate at victoriabaths.org.uk

Govanhill Bus (Glasgow)

The baths opened in 1917 and closed in 2001 after five months of protests. Govanhill Bath Community Trust aims to complete the exterior refurbishment in August 2023 and reopen the baths as a wellbeing center in 2026.
Donate at govanhillbaths.com

Carlisle Baths

The Carlisle Baths and Washhouse opened in 1884 and a Turkish bath was added in 1909. The facility closed in November 2022, but our friends at Carlisle Victorian Buses and Turkish Baths are campaigning for it to reopen.
Donate at carlislebaths.co.uk

Be Well The Spa (London)
York Hall Leisure Center in Bethnal Green opened in 1929 and included a Turkish bath in the basement. The bathhouse was renovated and reopened as a day spa in 2007. The spa closed again in May for renovations, but plans to reopen by the end of the year.
be-well.org.uk

Health Hydro, Swindon
The GWR Medical Foundation Baths and Infirmary opened in 1891, and a Turkish bath was added in 1904-1905. A report in May found there were “no known similar buildings” anywhere in the world. Health Hydro, as it is now known, will be closed from April 2023 for a £6.5 million refurbishment. A reopening date has not yet been announced.
better.org.uk