Coogee Media

Iconic Coogee Pool
The Ross Jones Memorial Pool, according to a brass plaque placed on the sandstone wall next to the pool, was built in 1947. It is located next to Coogee Surf Life Saving Club at the south end of Coogee Beach. The pool has distinctive regularly placed concrete blocks, and these raised section are reminiscent of children's sand castles. These make it an iconic part of Coogee Beach. It is popular with families and children and an iconic part of the Coogee. Waves from Coogee Beach spill over the concrete walls of the baths during high tide and rough seas.

The pool is made of two sections: the main bathing area and a wading pool. The pool has a rock base with tapered concrete walls to three sides. The fourth side is the natural rock face, underneath the Coogee Surf Club, grading to the wall of a nearby raised concrete walkway. The pool is filled by the action of tides and waves. Drainage holes are provided in the north walls of each swimming area and are opened using wooden bungs.

When plans were being prepared to renovate the pool in the late 1990s, Randwick Council proposed removing the blocks because they were badly worn, but ended up replacing with them new blocks of the same shape because of heritage considerations.

Shark in Pool
In 1947, waves wash a small 3 foot long shark into the pool, much to the consternation of bathers, including children. It was killed by a beach inspector Jack Cuncliffet who used a spear gun. Cuncliffe dived into the pool. After several attempts he cornered the shark and sent the spear through it. Another beach inspector, Dick Haselgrove, said the pool was considered shark proof. TIhe shark washed over and had probably been sick and floating on the surface.

Roscoe Samuel "Ross" Jones

Named after Ross Jones
The Pool is named after and dedicated to Roscoe Samuel Webster "Ross" Jones (1892-1946), Sydney solicitor, an Alderman for East Ward from 1934 to 1937, civic leader and a Mason. He was close association with the Coogee Surf Life Saving Club, being elected President from 1931. He was the son of police detective Sub-Inspector Jones who lived at Rosscroft at Centennial Park. He married Letitia May Mitchell in 1921 and their home was at 24 Gordon Street, Coogee. He died suddenly at Leura NSW on the 4th October 1946. He was survived by his wife, children Ross, Gregory, Fay, and Bryce, mother, brother Ern, and sister Gert Fay (who was married to Sydney hotelier Claude Fay). His funeral was held at the Randwick Presbyterian Church and later at Rookwood Crematorium.

World War One Service
A photograph from World War One shows him wearing an Australian military uniform, however, I could not locate him on any of the Australian War Memorial databases of those who served during that era. It appears though, that he was part of a scheme developed by the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in Australia to send uniformed "secretaries" with Australian military detachments to organise facilities for the troops' social welfare needs. Jones was one of those "secretaries":

The aim of the Australian YMCA throughout the war was to promote the social welfare of the soldier and to provide him with huts and other rendezvous where, beneath the sign of the Red Triangle, he was enabled temporarily to put aside military duties, profitably spend his leisure hours, and receive such entertainment as would relieve his mind from the stress of war. (Arthur K Yapp, The Romance of the Red Triangle, New York: Hodder & Stoughton, 1918, p. 45).

Ross Jones in Australian military uniform for YMCA service

The Coogee-Randwick Ratepayers and Citizen's Association suggested dedicating the new baths to Roscoe Samuel Jones. With agreement from the Jones family, Randwick Council arranged for a commemorative plaque to be placed on the rock face near the stairs. The Sydney Morning Herald noted in his obituary (Tue 8 Oct 1946, Page 5):

Mr. Jones was an active worker for many years in all local movements in the Coogee district, particularly youth organisations. In addition to his presidency of the District council of the Boy Scout Movement, he was prominently associated with the Coogee Surf Club, the Randwick Bowling Club, and the Coogee-Randwick Ratepayer's and Citizens' Association, of which he was president at the time of his death.

However, Sand's Sydney Directory records that in 1930 - 1933 that Randwick Municipal Baths was located at the southern end of the beach below the surf club, where the Ross Jones Pool is located, so perhaps the "new" pool of 1946 was actually a rebuilding of an older pool.

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