Polio and the 'pool' at North Hinksey

Polio and the 'pool' at North Hinksey

Jenny Holloway recalls how she and her brother found an alternative to river swimming during a polio scare.

Jenny: There was a polio scare, um, and we were told to stay – [pause] I can’t remember what year that was, but I vaguely remember, there was a great big scare and I think we were told not to swim in the river for a while. But I can’t remember what year that is – you’re talking about decades and decades ago.

Interviewer: Did you stop swimming, did everyone stop swimming, did it have an impact?

Jenny: No, we found somewhere else to swim. Um, there was um, out the back of um, North Hinksey, there’s a swimming – it’s still there, it’s like- we called it ‘the pool’ and it is actually a pool of water. So, I used to go swimming there with my middle brother. But I don’t know what the others did – there were no swimming pools, not that we knew of.