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Three decades ago, Merseyside was battered by a huge storm that resulted in the demolition of New Brighton’s much-loved – and much-missed – open air swimming baths.

These fascinating photos from the ECHO and Liverpool Daily Post archives show how events unfolded in February 1990.

In Liverpool, waterfront buildings were evacuated amid fears of a record-breaking tidal surge, electricity shut off and 4000 workers sent home.

In Wirral, we reported that seven-month-old Stephen Johnston was lucky to be alive after a chimney came crashing through the ceiling of his bedroom in gale force winds in Moreton.

Initial reports suggested the storm had only ripped away terracing at New Brighton Baths.

But it soon emerged that the 85mph winds had, as the ECHO put it at the time, “planted a kiss of death” on the local landmark.

Just days later, council bosses concluded the combined effect of gales and enormous waves had battered the stunning art deco pool “virtually to destruction”.

Although the long-term future of the baths was already in doubt, the storm accelerated the process, leading to the demolition of the whole structure a few months later.

Over in North Wales, the Army was sent to help flood-ravaged Towyn, where waves smashed a 600 yard breach in the sea wall.

How New Brighton Baths made history

(Image: No Agency)

In New Brighton’s heyday as a holiday town, its lido drew thousands of visitors from all over the North West – and there was once talk of holding Olympic Games events there.

The swimming pool was opened in June 1934 by Viscount Leverhulme and cost the old Wallasey Corporation more than £90,000.

In the first two months after opening, more than one million people passed through the turnstiles, drawn in by its magnificent art deco styling and high diving boards.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

But as holidaying habits changed and families were tempted abroad on cheap package deals, like the rest of the resort it gradually went into decline.

The pool itself could accommodate 2,000 swimmers and there was seating for 10,000 spectators.

In 1937, the pool celebrated its millionth visitor, Mary Drew. Over the years, it played host to wrestling competitions, midnight bathing, dances, firework displays and the Miss New Brighton contest.

By the 1950s, the pool was attracting around 150,000 people on a bank holiday weekend.

(Image: Handout)

In 1984 it was used as a venue for ITV’s New Brighton Rock extravaganza, starring starred Nik Kershaw, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Spandau Ballet, the Weather Girls and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

What happened to New Brighton Baths during the storm?

On February 26, 1990 the Mersey burst its banks and an estimated 13million gallons of sea water flooded an area of the baths designed for only a million gallons.

The huge waves punched a huge hole in foundations at the exposed north west corner of the complex.

The damage threatened to cause structural collapse after vast quantities of sea water poured through the gap.

(Image: Trinity Mirror Archive)

Sections of a balcony above the breach sagged as waves continued to batter the baths for a second day.

Why couldn’t the baths be saved?

The huge cost of repairing the pool, estimated at nearly £4million, was cited as a reason for its demolition.

At the time of the storm, Merseyside Development Corporation had already indicated the pool – in its existing form – did not figure in their plans for the resort’s future.

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Structural surveys had concluded renovations costing more than £1million would be needed.

The storm damage sent that bill skyrocketing and within days, Wirral Council indicated it was unlikely to spend the money needed to repair the baths.

In news that was likely to be of little consolation, council chiefs said they did want to find a new home for the Miss New Brighton beauty contest.

(Image: Trinity Mirror Archive)

Andy Worthington, the council’s then-director of leisure services, told reporters: The damage was of such an order that I am doubtful that we can justify spending the sort of money needed for repairs – particularly as the long-term future of the site is for redevelopment.”

The Save New Brighton Baths group was formed but campaigners’ hopes were dashed when the Government rejected a bid to list the baths as architecturally and historically significant.

(Image: Trinity Mirror Archive)

The storm-battered buildings were demolished within months and the old baths site was unused until the land became part of the £60m Marine Point development.

It opened in 2011 – but without the new pool many had hoped to see built as a nod to a key part of New Brighton history.

Could it happen again?

The 1990 storm and the damage it wreaked has never been forgotten in New Brighton – and the question of whether new buildings could suffer the same fate was a recurring theme of campaigns against proposed development on the baths site.

Immediately after the storm, the council’s leisure services director Andy Worthington said lessons had to be learned for the future, but that the pool’s age and poor condition may have contributed to its fate.

(Image: Trinity Mirror Archive)

He told the Daily Post: “The pool is in the later stages of its life and and clearly it’s not as stable or robust as it was.

“We’re looking forward optimistically to the future.

“The lesson to be learned from the past few days is that any development at the pool site will have to include appropriate specifications to withstand this sort of storm.”

An “unprecedented” storm in December 2013 had echoes of the events of February 1990 as cars and businesses in New Brighton were left partly submerged by sea water.

(Image: Google Streetview)

More than £250,000 worth of damage in the resort and in West Kirby was inflicted by the storm surge.

Wirral Council later said it would ask the government to help pay for the cost of repairs.