Mr Wal Levick & Mr Harry Cook convened a meeting to form a committee to investigate the possibility of constructing a pool in Cundle on 7th February 1946. After 12 months of fundraising the committee had raised 1000pounds.
The first location was to be a concrete pool on the riverbank into which water from the river would be pumped (near the Dumeresque bridge) . This location was shelved due to the lack of cement & steel in post war years.
The second location, chosen in 1951, was to be the construction of an enclosed pool in the river with some of the suggested sites being Kendall Point & the Dawson River end of Albert Street. The river bank below King Street was also mentioned. In 1964 a special general meeting of Cundle residents was called & again an "in the river" enclosure was decided on with the location being Wharf Street. This street no longer exists, but it led to the "Government" wharf, again near the Dumeresque Island bridge. This could not happen, as the river at that point was found to be polluted beyond the limit regarded as safe for bathing.
In August 1964 the committee decided that the only way Cundletown was ever going to have a pool was to build a concrete pool using mainly voluntary labour. Negotiations with Taree Municipal council to find a suitable site took place over the next 2 years.
In September 1966 it was definitely decided to build a 25 metre pool, which would be filtered & chlorinated, & a site was chosen in Market Square, opposite the post office. Art Unions were held in 1965-1966 which made $6,138.00 for the committee. By the end of 1968 the committee were ready to peg out & excavate the site.
In 1969, a new problem arose- the council did not have the power to lease the site to the baths committee. Legal wrangling took place over the next year, which resulted in the statement that a new site needed to be investigated. The present site was chosen & excavation finally took place in April 1972, using voluntary labour & donated equipment.
Except for concreting, rendering & tiling of the pool all other work was done with voluntary labour by the citizens of Cundle & outside the district.
The pool was officially opened on Saturday 16th November 1974, with Mr Leon Punch (Minister for Public Works) performing the ceremony.
The pool was handed over to Taree Council in 1981 or 1982.
The pool was closed & the site turned into a park in 2012. The trees in the adjacent park were planted in 1917 as a memorial to WW1 veterans.
This is a fairly easy cache to find, but the park is frequented by the locals & can get busy with sports being played at the nearby oval, so be careful of the muggles. There are Barbeques on site, with picnic tables & a playground for the kids. Lots of room for kicking a ball around, so stay & enjoy the area after finding the cache.
Many thanks to Cundletown historical society for the information about the pool.