When 'smelly green' Radipole lake was where people had fun

In this article we're remembering a time when the lake was so much more to  people than the 'unsightly, smelly and green' body of water we have seen recently, caused by algae forming due to hot weather.

Algae bloom on Radipole Lake in Weymouth (Image: NQ)

These photos should jog some memories - they show when the lake and Swannery area would draw hundreds of fun seekers to the area.

The swan boats on Radipole Lake (Image: NQ)

Here, in this picture by former Echo photographer Harry Green, we can see swan boats on Radipole Lake serenely gliding along in the company of the real things!

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Apparently these weren't the first pedal boats to be on the lake and these were pre-dated by 'ones not as posh as these, but great fun'.

One reader remembers: "The swan pedal boats were horrendously heavy and difficult to get moving, not helped by the floats letting in the water and having to be emptied regularly.

"But they were great fun. When I was a schoolboy, I used to help on the miniature steam railway on the other side of the lake, moving the engine to the turntable and turning it so that it could be connected to the front of the carriages."

The swan boats would be hired out and then whoever was still out there pedalling on the lake would be summoned back to shore by the familiar call 'Come in, number fifteen. Your time is up!'

These were later replaced by the splash cats, which many readers fondly remember in the early 80s.

Of interest in this photo is 'a terrifying' dental practice in the background, shudderingly remembered by readers.

"This was the local clinic where you went in with a full mouth of teeth and came out with none or a lot less and feeling sick from the gas!" one remembers.

Hazel Savage writes: "Although everyone sees the clinic, I see my great aunt and uncle's home.

"They lived on the top floor of the clinic building during the 50s. He was an ambulance driver."

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Also visible in the photo is St Joseph's Catholic Church and the miniature railway.

People have also commented on how 'tidy' the lake area looked back then with the 'lake kept so clean'.

The lake was also once home to the much-missed Chipperfields Fun Fair, which was based near to Westham Bridge.

Among the rides people remember there are the cyclone, the ghost train, and the wild mouse, which, apparently, was quite the hairy experience with readers remembering being covered in bruises after riding it!

Chipperfields Fun Fair (Image: Supplied)

The very unique Wild Mouse ride used to 'clank and rattle away'. It was sited near the chain link fence where the old sidings once stood.

You can see the terrifying ride in this picture and also the old Westham Bridge still being used by traffic.

Picture courtesy of Mick Davis (Image: Picture courtesy of Mick Davis)

Pupils at the nearby Weymouth Grammar School in Alma Road also recall hearing the shrieks from the fairground while they were trying to do their exams in the gym!

And finally, here's a picture of the much-missed miniature railway, which ran from the Swannery. This picture was taken in the 1950s.

Miniature railway at the Swannery (Image: Supplied)

This charming little railway was on the west side of Radipole Lake and closed for good in 1980. 

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The railway was opened in 1947 by Baydon Miniature Railways, one of several seaside railways it built during that era.

It ran down beside Radipole Lake for about 500m, turned around in a balloon loop, and then headed back to the station.