AND so farewell to Skipton Swimming Pool - a source of great wonder to the town when it was built but distinctly showing its age in recent years.

Many local people have spent happy hours there as carefree youngsters running around and ignoring the shrill blast of the attendant's whistle, or as worried parents teaching toddlers to swim, or more mature adults enjoying a recreational few lengths in the name of fitness.

When it first opened the pool was a source of some pride. There were no Lottery grants in those days and the town paid for it without a massive increase in the rates.

Yet there are those who insist that, in typical Skipton fashion, it was bungled from the start. The pool was built to feet and inches just as international competitions was moving to metres, thus rendering it invalid for staging a major event.

The diving board went some time ago as councils grew increasingly paranoid about safety; finding a locker that worked was almost impossible (German made it was rumoured with no spare keys) and frequent boiler breakdowns meant it could be chillier than a dip in the North Sea.

Even so, it has served the town well. Its replacment should be open in July.