Work starts on new pool and fitness facilities

Work has started on a new leisure centre, named after the first man to swim the English Channel.

The new Captain Matthew Webb Swimming and Fitness Centre in Dawley, Telford, will include a five-lane pool along with a gym.

The new facilities, at Telford Langley School, are due to open next year.

The council said there was a need for more swimming facilities in the area and it estimated the new pool would be used 150,000 times a year.

The work has been paid for by the local authority, which will operate the pool and fitness facilities once they open.

Telford and Wrekin Council said the development would also allow the Langley School to convert its own health and fitness room to teaching space.

Last year was the 150th anniversary of Captain Matthew Webb's historic swim across the channel.

He made the crossing on 25 August 1875 and was famous for coining the phrase: "Nothing great is easy."

Webb, who was also a stuntman, completed the swim from Dover to Calais in less than 21 hours 45 minutes and later died in 1883 when he attempted to swim the Whirlpool Rapids below the Niagara Falls and drowned.

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