Local school children used to swim in the river Ouse near the old mill, to the north of the town. Unfortunately, the owner of the mill didn't approve of this and used to put broken glass on the river bed to stop them!
Mr Orson Bull, the local headteacher, used to collect the glass and place it by the old town water pump to draw the problem to the public's attention.
The town did take notice and it was decided that a dedicated bathing place was to be made on the River Lovat.
On 21st June 1887, as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria, the bathing place was opened.
It had a temporary bridge and a diving board. Later improvements saw a permanent bridge, concrete sidings, wooden changing huts and even a toilet!
The Headmaster continued to teach the school boys to swim here and gave the boys a sixpence and a signed certificate, when they could swim across the river.
Swimming at this spot here continued until 1951 when the river was too polluted.
In 1956, an anonymous man donated some money to the Council to be spent on building a proper swimming pool. Work was completed and the open air pool opened in August 1957.
The man remained anonymous until his death in January 1966.
He was Harry Middleton, a man born in Newport Pagnell and raced with the swim team, but made is money gold mining in Canada. His donation started "The Harry Middleton Gift Fund" which is still in place today to be used for the benefit of the residents of Newport Pagnell. 'His' pool (now using his name) is still used, it has undergone a lot of modernisation. and has recently been extended to include a gym. Many generations have benefited from his donation.
The bridge from the 1900's has now been replaced (it was in a very sorry state) The new bridge was opened on 19th September 2013.