PLANS are being drawn up in a bid for an outdoor swimming pool to return to Dunbar.

A group of outdoor swimmers, known as the Salty Sisters, are exploring the possibility of restoring the Gentlemen’s Bathing Pool as it used to be known.

Proposals for the pool, east of The Rocks Hotel, are at a very early stage and the feasibility of the idea, legal permissions and funding are yet to be secured.

However, Jo Lee, one of those interested in taking the project forward, described it as “an exciting opportunity”.

She said: “It is very much a group and a team effort.

“It is in the very early stages and it is absolutely paramount that all the relevant parties are in agreement with it moving forward but essentially the overriding message is that this is an exciting opportunity to explore the possibility.”

Discussions are taking place between those interested in restoring the pool and organisations including East Lothian Council and NatureScot.

Members of the Salty Sisters, who regularly swim off the town’s coast, are also planning to learn from other open-water pools, including those at Cellardyke, Pittenweem and St Monans in Fife.

Mrs Lee stressed that there would need to be support from the community if the scheme were to get off the ground.

She said: “We are exploring all the possibilities, looking at every angle and it is kind of fun.

“This will probably be the most exhaustive effort to reinstate the pool. It will either be possible or not but we will have explored every avenue.”

Research has highlighted the benefits of open water swimming, including how it can help with depression, weight loss and overall happiness.

Mrs Lee, who moved to the town a year ago, highlighted the camaraderie of the cold water experience.

The 50-year-old said: “It is almost hard to articulate. It is just the very best way to start the day. You feel completely alive, energised and the camaraderie of doing something slightly unusual together.

“It is very well documented the mental health benefits and you could see that from the number of people who took cold water swimming, any permutation of it, up over the lockdown period.”

A council spokeswoman said the pool had been used by both swimmers and model boat enthusiasts until about the 1960s. A sluice was in place to regulate and maintain water levels.

She said: “The council is supportive of this proposal, which recognises the growing popularity of ‘wild swimming’.

“The location itself, however, is designated a nationally important geodiversity site (protected by Geological Conservation Review and SSSI designations) and so requires further consideration by NatureScot to advise on the appropriateness of proposed reinstatement works.”

A spokesperson for NatureScot said: “NatureScot is broadly supportive of the plan to restore the old bathing pool, as in our view it would improve access to nature in the local area.

“However, the Dunbar foreshore is protected by a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) designation because it is a nationally important example of how the bedrock has been sculpted by marine erosion into landforms, large and small.

“It’s important that this special geodiversity is not damaged or obscured by restoration, so our area staff and geodiversity advisors are working closely with the local council to provide advice and guidance on the proposal.”

At the height of its popularity, Dunbar Lido was the the largest open air pool in Scotland.

It was first used in the 1880s when there were brick and concrete dressing houses. Upgrades in later decades saw a promenade, diving areas and a pavilion added. The grassy slopes made great viewing areas.

As fewer tourists came to the town and open air pools became less fashionable, it eventually closed and the bulldozers were brought in in 1984.