Yes, I learnt to swim there. So did my brother. Although he was nearly two years older than me there was a stage when people said we looked like twins. He was a tearaway and was once banned - can't remember what for. We hit on the idea of going separately to different parts of the pool and if either of us was asked by the burly attendant 'Didn't I ban you?' we'd would reply 'No. That was my brother!'
My goodness Stanley, you lived life in the fast lane, didn't you! When I went to the Baths with Mum, we had to sit on a bench, until a cubicle was free, then you'd go in, get undressed, and the attendant would fill the bath, from outside the cubicle, where the taps were situated.
Then, if the water cooled too quickly, you'd call out "more hot water in number 3 please!", and she'd turn the tap. Mum was very careful with her money, which is probably why we walked home, through the back streets, even in Winter, rather than get a bus.
Anyway, Mum told me that when we went to the Baths, I wasn't to say a word. So when she bought a 2d ticket, just for herself, she'd say "oh I wash the child in the sink at home". But after her bath, I had to silently undress myself and get in the bath water, and wash myself quickly.
One day, the attendant got on a stool and looked over the top of the cubicle, and said loudly "that child hasn't been paid for!!!!" My Mum, who was getting dressed, calmly turned round and said "oh dear, I had no idea she'd done that - get out now!!"
Oh! The shame! I don't know what shocked me most. The fact that the attendant had seen me naked, the fact that she thought I'd sneaked in, or, worst of all, that my Mum had lied!
But of course, like Verity, wrapped in her brown paper, you didn't question anything, but did what you were told, and followed the mantra "children should be seen but not heard"! I must say, after listening to the cacophony made nowadays in restaurants, by little darlings, who must be allowed to freely express themselves, deafening other customers, I wish that mantra was still adhered to!