It was at the heart of the community for over 30 years
Campaigners stage a sit in at Liverpool’s last public laundry, the Fred Robinson laundry in St. Domingo Road, Everton on July 10, 1986(Image: Mirrorpix)
It’s now been 30 years since a popular Liverpool laundry and baths that once served “4,000 hoes” in the city closed its doors for good. Located on St Domingo Road in Everton, the Fred Robinson Laundry and Baths was a vital part of the community for decades.
Officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Alderman D.J. Lewis, in 1962, at the time it was the first laundry wash to be built in Liverpool for 26 years. Decades ago, Liverpool was home to many washhouses and public baths, which opened following the famous work of Kitty Wilkinson.
As a laundress, Wilkinson took the initiative to offer the use of her boiler, house and yard to neighbours to wash their clothes and showed them how to use a chloride of lime to get them clean. Dubbed ‘saint of the slums’, this took place during a cholera epidemic in the 1830s.
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Through doing this, Kitty’s generosity saved many lives and it made her a pioneer of the washhouse and public baths. Convinced of the importance of cleanliness in combating disease, Kitty pushed for the establishment of public baths where the poor could bathe and opened the first public wash house in the country on Upper Frederick Street in 1842.
Over a century later, the Fred Robinson Laundry and Baths was the latest site to open, costing £80,000. In its early days, the decor gave it a “coffee bar” atmosphere, contrasting with the overhead pipes which “cluttered the older wash-houses.”
The Fred Robinson Public Laundry in St Domingo Road shortly before it opened on July 24, 1962, it was being visited by members of the Liverpool Baths and Public Laundries Committee (Image: Mirrorpix)
Brilliant photos, recently unearthed from our Mirrorpix archives, offer a glimpse into life there through the decades. Unseen for years, you can see the building when it opened, as well as what it looked like in the 80s and 90s and the people who went and worked there.
On September 20, 1962, the Liverpool Daily Post reported: “In the opening week, over 800 people used the ten baths for men and six for women. Mr R.D. Bland, city baths manager and engineer, said: “There were times when the waiting room was full.
“But there must be many people who still prefer a scrub down at home. We hope they will come to make full use of the facilities provided.
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“Many local men are calling in for a bath on the way home from work.” Mr Fred Robinson, a former chairman of the Baths Committee and a member for 31 years, said: “I’ve got my name on the highest point in the city.”
Through the years, generations will remember heading to Fred Robinson, which was a massive part of the community. By the 80s, the building was dubbed “Liverpool’s last public laundry” and saw many campaign to save it.
In 1986, many locals protested its closure, spending long periods of time throughout that year participating in lock-ins, as city councillors wanted to demolish the 24-year old laundry to make way for new houses.
Campaigners celebrate a month of sit ins at the laundry in July 1986(Image: Mirrorpix)
Among the protestors was Elsie Dalton, who travelled each day from Kensington. She said the campaign was snowballing, with 70 women volunteering to join the sit-in.
At the time, she said: “We have no intention of leaving until the laundry has been saved.” Director of leisure services, Ken Robinson: “The problem boils down to the lack of money. We are still considering the future of the laundry.”
The site continued operating for almost another decade, closing its doors for good in December 1995.
Councillors pulled the plug on the Fred Robinson municipal laundry in December 1995(Image: Mirrorpix)
On December 20 that year, the ECHO reported: “The closure of Fred Robinson Laundry in St Domingo Road, Everton, marks the end of a long campaign to save it. Councillors pulled the plug when when the number of people using the wash-house had dwindled to 10 a week, and equipment will be removed tomorrow.
“But the home service for the elderly and house-bound will remain, with the work being taken over by private company. Manager of Fred Robinson, Eddie Blanche, said it was a sad occasion.
He added: “Unfortunately it is a sign of the times. If we had people using the facility there would be a case for it to remain open but unfortunately they seem to be reluctant to come to a public wash-house. Luckily there will be no redundancies as all eight staff are being moved elsewhere within leisure services.”
Eddie Blanche was the laundry’s last manager(Image: Mirrorpix)
It’s now been 30 years since Fred Robinson closed its doors, but it didn’t mark the end of the story.
Kitty’s Laundrette, a community cooperative, was established in 2019 on Grasmere Street, Anfield, and offers affordable and environmental laundry services, as well as an accessible social space. Alongside a community hub, the laundrette tackles social isolation and hygiene poverty with a programme that includes film nights, knitting groups, community history and subsidised laundry services for people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.