The story of West Wight Sports Centre written by founding member

Shirley, now 87, was one of the original group who dug the hole that became West Wight Swimming Pool and then eventually West Wight Sports Centre.

The pandemic eventually forced her to retire, but she worked as a swimming instructor right up to the beginning of 2020.

Shirley wrote the book, titled Hole In The Ground, during lockdown with assistance from her daughter Nicola.

She had been collecting stories and anecdotes from people behind the story for the last few years and has kept press cuttings and photos from the very beginning.

The story starts in the 1970s, when the newly formed West Wight Swimming Club led by Ron Smith, Shirley, and others, hired local holiday camp pools to teach children to swim.

It follows the story of raising funds, by any honest means, to build West Wight Swimming Pool stage by stage, first with an outdoor pool and later with changing rooms made from hardboard that dripped and warped.

The story goes on to tell readers how it became West Wight Sports Centre and eventually the West Wight Sports and Community Centre.

Shirley Miles with Lord Mountbatten (centre) and Ron Smith (left) opening the West Wight Swimming pool in 1977. Picture courtesy of West Wight Sports and Community Centre.

Bits and bobs sales, auctions of slaves, car boots, sponsored walks, endless grant applications, thousands of volunteer hours are captured in the story by the people who were behind the project.

The launch is on Monday, December 6, between 11am and 2pm, at West Wight Sports Centre, where Shirley will be signing copies.

Shirley Miles teaching children in the pool before it had a roof (and before Brookside Health Centre was built). Picture courtesy of West Wight Sports and Community Centre.