Tarzan of Bounds Green

Tarzan of Bounds Green from Tom Tagholm on Vimeo.

Eric Bromberger remembers the day he watched Johnny Weissmuller dive at his local pool, in a special one-off performance.

Today, the pool is a garden centre.

Who, among those buying their pot plants and compost, would imagine that Tarzan had been here?

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Comment by Geoff Walsh on December 10, 2012 at 10:30: Well, anyone who frequented Durnsford Rd pool , in the 60's and 70's will remember we had our very own Tarzan, a perma -bronzed character , who acquired the name of "Mad Jack " named so for his crazy stunts like riding a bicycle off top board ( 10 mtrs ) a supreme diver .
I last saw him about 6 years ago in Wood Green, instantly recognizable, despite his years

Comment by Geoff Walsh on August 6, 2012 at 18:41: Fantastic....such memories.

My brother and I had season tickets to the pool and would spend all summer over there..being pupils at Cecil Rhodes school we would also have our weekly swimming lessons there.

Comment by Kate Franzmann on August 3, 2012 at 12:11: What a fantastic film. Thanks and congratulations to all involved. I used to take the kids there in the summer and it was absolutely great. They ran about having fun and splashing in the water, I swam and was freed up to read a book without constant interruptions. Everybody was happy. When you go back to Durnsford now I find it fascinating that so much is still in place. You can still make out the changing rooms and where the pool was. Domestic archeology on our doorstep. Sad though, what a resource that would have been to have on our patch if only someone had had the vision to save it for leisure.

Comment by Julia Machin on July 11, 2012 at 14:28: We used to spend what seemed like all summer at Durnsford Pool. I was at Rhodes Avenue School, and we used to have our swimming lessons at Durnsford. I remember walking across the park from school, in anorak, jumper etc and then having to strip down to swmming to swimming costumes and jump into the pool, on the whistle, into absolutely freezing water! But the summers spent there were glorious! The place was usually packed on summer's day, and you'd often have to queue to get in. Haringey used to provide free passes for the children who'd done swimming lessons there, so the whole summer's entertainment was sorted, for free! We used to watch Mad Jack doing amazing dives - you'd see him walking up to the steps of the diving board, and the whole place would go quiet and stop to watch him. He'd do 2 or 3 dives, and then go. Such a shame that community facility had gone - I really miss it.

Comment by sue coles on July 7, 2012 at 10:30: My brother and I used Durnsford swimming regularly and my dad who was Wood Green High Diving champion. Great little film which brought back memories.

Comment by Administrator on July 6, 2012 at 10:22: There has previously been a bit of discussion on this site about the Durnsford Road Pool - including some archive video follow this link.

Comment by Kathleen Duffy on July 4, 2012 at 11:05: Amazing that Johnny Weissmuller came to Bounds Green!! Me and my girlfriends use to go to every Tarzan film and we fancied Johnny something rotton! He was a really beautiful man. I do agree that it's a shame about the swimming pool going, but in a way it's nice that it's now a garden centre and not a B&Q or a car park. After all, Johnny, in his tiny thong might feel quite at home prowling amongst the vines and leaping about amongst the dahlias. It puts a whole new slant on the Sunshine Garden Centre for me.