When we first viewed Old Luckett Station we were amazed by so many things, mainly by how much work needed to be done!

If you don’t already know, you might be surprised that the waiting room building, pictured above, contains a swimming pool, hot tub and sauna together with a shower room and toilet.

When we went ahead and bought the Old Station, we always thought that, as part of our new lives, we’d be the sort of people who’d swim every day and use the hot tub and sauna but, as it turns out, we’re not!

Try as we might to make use of this wonderful building and facilities within, it seems that unless friends came to visit, we rarely use the waiting room for anything…

In fairness, we have been very busy extending and renovating our home and updating/building our two holiday lets The Signal Box and The Sidings, but even so, in five years we haven’t found the time so, in honesty, I don’t think we ever will…

And then came the energy crisis; a swimming pool is a luxury item which requires constant attention. It’s greedy for energy and to keep it healthy and safe to use it needs to be pumping through a filtration system 24 hours a day, if you’re thinking of heating it too… it’s hugely expensive.

Our continued lack of interest combined with ever increasing running costs brings us to a household debate, what to do with the swimming pool?

It’s a rather decadent issue to have but, however decadent it’s a very real problem for someone who has inherited a swimming pool.

We either need to remove it and repurpose the building or find a use for it, you cannot simply empty the pool or turn it off and ignore it without expensive implications and we cannot let anyone use it without spending lots of money on essentials including health and safety and insurance.

As it stands, Tim wants to keep the pool and I want to repurpose the pool…

The possible solution came to us during this agreeable debate, we are both on the same side, we want to do the right thing and I take Tim’s point that removing the pool is a very final decision which cannot be easily undone in the future.

The Waiting Room at Old Luckett Station

I was chatting to our friend Charlotte (who helps us look after The Signal Box and The Sidings) about the rising energy costs, especially in relation to the holiday lets and swimming pool. Charlotte was unaware the waiting room building housed a pool and asked if she might pop over and have a look for herself… and what she said next is potentially our game changer…

She told me her family love to use a small local pool which can be hired by the hour, who knew!?

She said the pool that she currently uses is always booked back to back and people can’t get in, it’s so successful…

She went on to say that because we have a small pool with grab bars and deep steps, it would be ideal for this purpose, and she then asked me if I would hire it to her family and friends… Wow!

Following our conversation Charlotte asked the parents at the local school where her children attend if they would be interested in a small local pool for private hire? and 10 out of 10 people showed an interest, and the idea has blossomed from there…

We then asked local people for their views and across the board there appears to be a demand locally to hire our facilities, with several people waiting for us to get permission and carry out the works needed so they can hire it from us… Wow again!

The next stage is to apply for permission from the local council to take the swimming pool from private to commercial use and then to put the necessary changes in place to ensure compliance with all the health and safety regulations required.

At this stage, it’s an area we are starting to learn about so we will have to adapt quickly and remain open to ideas on how our pool might best serve our community.

We currently favour a swimming pool with large hot tub, sauna and changing area with shower and toilets but may change our minds if a more useful option presents itself.

We are open to swimming lessons, water aerobic classes, PADI training and hiring to guests staying in our holiday lets and anything else the pool may be suitable for…

In the meantime, if you have any experience in this field which may help us, planning, swimming pools, health and safety or anything related, or if you want to discuss using the pool for a particular purpose, we’d love to hear from you.

If we are successful with this plan, we are thinking of calling to new business ‘The Waiting Room’ at Old Luckett Station, or can you think of a better name?