Artist uses derelict outdoor pool to create giant sand picture of her late grandmother

A beach artist transformed a derelict outdoor swimming pool into a giant sand picture of her late grandmother who swam in the lido almost 100 years ago.Retired GP Claire Eason spent three hours carving the image of her beloved grandmother Rosie Brindle on the bottom of Tynemouth's outdoor pool.The sea water attraction opened in 1925 but closed in 1996 after falling into disrepair and sand now covers the entire bottom of the landmark on Longsands beach, Tyneside.It was one of the first lido's in the UK and Rosie kept fit doing lengths of the pool after it first opened almost 100 years ago.To honour the memory of her grandmother who died in 1984, Claire carved out a 30ft long image of a teenage Rosie taking a dip.Claire, 55, who took up beach art after retiring from her career as a GP, said: "I used to visit the pool with my grandmother when I was a little girl."She used to tell me how she loved swimming in the pool which was right next to the sea."She died in 1984 aged 73 and I always wanted to do something to honour her."My grandmother was born in 1912 and she was a teenager around the time this was opened in 1925, and she spent quite a bit of her teenage years there."She used to tell us stories about it."We would visit that part of the coast and she would point out the pool and talk about the fun she had swimming with friends."Years later I found it was forlorn and hadn't been used for a couple of decades."It wasn't until two months ago this idea came into my head, to do a memory of my grandmother and her friends and the fun people had in its heyday."While I was doing the drawing, several people came up to me with their stories about swimming there when they were younger."There is only a small area of usable sand, the rest is rocks and mud."It took around three hours to make."Rosie developed my interest in the coast."The outdoor pool fell into disrepair but there is now a campaign to restore it to its former glory by the Friends of Tynemouth Outdoor Pool.

A beach artist transformed a derelict outdoor swimming pool into a giant sand picture of her late grandmother who swam in the lido almost 100 years ago.Retired GP Claire Eason spent three hours carving the image of her beloved grandmother Rosie Brindle on the bottom of Tynemouth's outdoor pool.The sea water attraction opened in 1925 but closed in 1996 after falling into disrepair and sand now covers the entire bottom of the landmark on Longsands beach, Tyneside.It was one of the first lido's in the UK and Rosie kept fit doing lengths of the pool after it first opened almost 100 years ago.To honour the memory of her grandmother who died in 1984, Claire carved out a 30ft long image of a teenage Rosie taking a dip.Claire, 55, who took up beach art after retiring from her career as a GP, said: "I used to visit the pool with my grandmother when I was a little girl."She used to tell me how she loved swimming in the pool which was right next to the sea."She died in 1984 aged 73 and I always wanted to do something to honour her."My grandmother was born in 1912 and she was a teenager around the time this was opened in 1925, and she spent quite a bit of her teenage years there."She used to tell us stories about it."We would visit that part of the coast and she would point out the pool and talk about the fun she had swimming with friends."Years later I found it was forlorn and hadn't been used for a couple of decades."It wasn't until two months ago this idea came into my head, to do a memory of my grandmother and her friends and the fun people had in its heyday."While I was doing the drawing, several people came up to me with their stories about swimming there when they were younger."There is only a small area of usable sand, the rest is rocks and mud."It took around three hours to make."Rosie developed my interest in the coast."The outdoor pool fell into disrepair but there is now a campaign to restore it to its former glory by the Friends of Tynemouth Outdoor Pool.