Will you be testing the water at Hinksey Pool in Oxford?

The water temperature will remain at nine degrees C this week until heating equipment can be repaired to boost the temperature to 24 degrees C.

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About 100 years ago it wasn't a public pool - it was the filter pool for the entire city's clean drinking water.

This and other fascinating facts from the Lake Street site's 150-year history was revealed to pool goers in a new history display board in 2017.

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The Jubilee Pools were created out of the filter pool in the 1930s and charges for swimming there were introduced in about 1960.

The board attached to the pool railings was created by Oxford historian Liz Woolley, who lives just a stone's throw away in Marlborough Road.

Ms Woolley, a regular pool user herself, said in 2017: "Because there were massive queues there were lots of people reading it, which was great."

Ms Woolley came up with the idea in 2016 when the pool itself was celebrating its 80th anniversary and officially joined the Historic Pools of Britain amateur history group.

Youngsters enjoy Hinksey Pool

The idea inspired city councillor for Hinksey Park ward Marie Tidball, who offered to fork out about half the £1,500 cost from her ward budget – money allocated to city councillors for projects in their areas.

Fusion Leisure, the not-for-profit group which runs Hinksey pool on behalf of its city council owners, agreed to pay the other half.

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Ms Woolley was joined for the unveiling by Mrs Tidball and pool team leader for Fusion Laurie Parrick.

She added: "I think people may don't realise how it is, but it's been a pool for 81 years now.

"When it was added to the Historic Pools of Britain list last year that made us think it would be nice to have some specific information there for visitors."

The waterworks pumping station, which was later discovered to be so unclean it was supporting healthy populations of mussels and shrimps, was opened in 1856.

City councillor Marie Tidball, Fusion's Laurie Parrick and historian Liz Woolley with an information board at Hinksey Pool in 2017

Hygiene standards were improved after a campaign by Oxford photographer Henry Taunt, but the station eventually closed in 1934.

The following year the old filter beds were converted into pools – minus the crustaceans – and the new facility opened to the community in 1936.

Ms Woolley's pool information board joined two other history displays at the entrances to Hinksey Park which Ms Woolley helped to create in 2014.

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The historian is also best-known to many in Oxford as the creator of the '66 Men of Grandpont' project launched in 2014, to tell the histories of every man from the South Oxford neighbourhood who gave his life in the First World War.