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A double celebration! Mearns Kirk member David celebrates 50 years volunteering on his 80th birthday.

The Sporting Memories membership is a veritable treasure trove of absolutely stunning memories. Every week members pop along and enjoy a cuppa and friendship talking sport. But every now and then we are left speechless.  

David Baumann, a member at our Mearns Kirk club came in recently clutching a trophy which was given to him by Govanhill Baths Community Trust to commemorate 25 years’ service as a volunteer with them. It was also his 80th birthday.  

A little bit more digging revealed a remarkable story and we have to thank Great Govanhill newsletter team for allowing us to share their article below.  

David’s Volunteering Story – in his words. 

David spoke to the Great Govanhill newsletter on his volunteering journey 

I volunteer at Govanhill Baths’ Archive and Heritage project helping to digitise the Zenith Amateur Swimming Club collection 

I was taught to swim at Govanhill Baths when I was five, but my connection to the Baths goes back to 1945. I was born at 106 Calder Street directly across from the building. I was told that when my mother took me out in my pram, I would point over to the baths - even then I was keen to go inside! In 1950, when I was five years old, my father arranged for me to have swimming lessons there. 

He took me to join the Zenith Amateur Swimming Club which operated out of Govanhill Baths, in 1956.  At that time the club was focused on training and technique.  David Lyle, the Zenith coach, told us he was entering us in the Western District Amateur Swimming Association’s swimming league for 13- to 14-year-old boys. 

There were five boys in the team and we were excited as this was our first competitive race. Ten clubs entered and amazingly Zenith came first. This was a major achievement; Falkirk were the firm favourites as they had Bobby McGregor on their team and six years after that he won a silver medal in the 1964 Olympics.   

I later completed my Scottish amateur swimming association teaching certificate which allowed me to coach the B squad. When David Lyle indicated he wished to retire, he suggested that with my organisational skills and with the help of my colleague Robert Jackson’s coaching experience, we could take the club to a higher level - if we could obtain more training time coma which we did. 

I spent 25 years there until 1974 when the Zenith was forced to close by Glasgow City Council. We were informed that they wanted to form their own City of Glasgow club and we were told we had to join or we would have to cease training altogether. This effectively put us out of business. The Zenith was always run under voluntary basis. It was a tremendous amount of work, but it gave us a lot of satisfaction.  

In 2001 when the council decided to close Govanhill Baths I went down to join the protest. My name was passed on to the committee because of my knowledge of the history of the Baths and this is when I started to assist with the archives. Shortly after that Paula Larkin, the archive and heritage manager, got in touch and I have been involved as a volunteer ever since. Next year I will have completed a further 25 years of involvement with the baths. 

A remarkable history of Govanhill Baths 

And it’s not just David who has the remarkable story, the place where our Sporting Memories Club is held in Govanhill Baths, has a remarkable story as told below... 

Govanhill Baths is Glasgow’s last surviving Edwardian?public?bathhouse.?The building contained hot baths in the upper storey and three swimming pools on the ground floor. There was a seating gallery around one of the pools for spectators attending events such as galas. The wash house, or “steamie”, at the rear of the building, was converted to a?launderette?in 1971. 

The foundation stone for the new baths and wash-house was laid on 3 July 1914 by the?Lord Provost of Glasgow. ?An important function of the building in the early years was to provide clothes-washing facilities for local people whose tenement homes typically had no such facilities. Most homes in the area also lacked bathing facilities.  

The closure of the baths was announced in January 2001. The campaign to save the baths began almost straight away, and resulted in a community protest occupation of the building from 17 March until 7 August that year. (We think David was in that protest as he mentions this in his recollections) This is the longest occupation of a public building in British history. Sheriff’s officers accompanied by mounted police finally removed the protesters and?shuttered?the windows and doors with steel.?A picket line remained outside the baths for the following year, supported by local community donations. 

However, we are able to finish on a positive note. The Baths are now a community trust and being gradually renovated to their former glory as time and funding permits.