A FACILITY which sits at the heart of the community today celebrates its 30th anniversary.

Dalton Leisure Centre was formally opened by Princess Margaret on September 18, 1987. Since then, thousands of children have learned to swim at the charity-run facility and it has become a true hub of the community.

With women attending for antenatal classes and the oldest club member now in his 90s, the love for the centre spans generations.

To celebrate the official anniversary of its opening, The Mail has put together a gallery of our archive photos taken there over years gone by.

There were young swimmers having fun in the 1990s in the pool and on the centre's frog slide, Jacko. Were you one of the junior rookie lifeguards gaining a lifesaving certificate in 1997?

Also in the archives are picnic days at the centre in the early 1990s.

In 1995, the then mayor of Dalton, Councillor Ann Coward, unveiled a plaque of Dalton hero pigeon, Tommy. Tommy flew a dangerous mission behind enemy lines and the Second World War and was just one of 62 birds and animals to receive the Dickin Medal for gallantry.

After the war, Tommy became a star of many local agricultural shows where people would pay to meet the hero pigeon of Dalton.

Can you spot yourself in our celebratory gallery?