Campaigners aiming to reopen Carlisle’s 114-year-old Turkish Baths have launched a podcast as part of their efforts.
The Friends of Carlisle Victorian and Turkish Baths released the first episode of Carlisle’s Best Kept Secret last week.
It is a 30-minute introductory pilot that features interviews with users past and present, as well as members of the Friends charity.
They discuss what the baths, situated on James Street, meant to them and how they feel about the closure of the baths last November.
Topics covered in the episode include the history, architecture, and the wellbeing benefits of the baths.
The episode was co-produced by the charity and Lancaster University linguistics student Lexie Hao.
Lexie produced the podcast as part of a work-based leaning module offered by the University’s arts and social sciences student placements and internships programme.
Elsa Price, one of the charity’s trustees who arranged the placement, said: “Since we started the baths’ campaign we have been inundated with comments and memories about them from people as far away as Australia.
“The podcast is a permanent audio record of just some of the people who made the Baths a community, and a way for us to reach a new audience and spread the word about our work to reopen a wonderful part of our living heritage.”
The episode is currently available on Spotify.
The baths are a Grade II listed building and are one of only 12 such baths that remain operational in the UK.
A viability study commissioned by the charity found that the baths could be run sustainably following redevelopment to add treatment rooms, additional aqua thermal facilities, and a café and or bar.
The charity is also currently in discussion with Cumberland Council about a possible community asset transfer of the building.
