Arlington Baths Club

Arlington Baths Club is a non-profit member-run swimming club in Glasgow. The Arlington Baths Club was the first swimming club in Glasgow and is located in a purpose-built Category A Listed Building that opened on 1 August 1871. The building is in the Charing Cross neighbourhood and was part of the westward development of the city. It was designed largely in the traditional tenement idiom, albeit with some exceptions such as the famous Charing Cross Mansions. The area quickly attracted well-off middle-class residents who were the primary members of the Arlington Baths Club. The membership typically showed up first thing in the morning before leaving for work and returned in the evening after work before leaving for home. These behaviours created the Club's customs. A replica of the Arlington Baths was built soon after in London, however, the drawings of the Arlington were stolen sometime towards the end of the 19th century. This replica was bombed during the Second World War and was never rebuilt. The building of the Arlington Baths coincided with the implementation of the first of the Public Health Acts in 1870 and was considered by some to be the precursor to the growth of public bathing in the United Kingdom.