Overview

This is a great swim centre with a useful gym. It’s a little bitty in places to move around, but worth the compromise for me.

Transport & Parking

There is accessible parking bays at the rear entrance (off Bonnington road). There are only two spaces and are really quite tight to drive into due to the pillars holding up the ceiling of car park. The spaces are very close to the entrance and under cover, which is a real bonus.

Access

The accessible entrance is off of Bonnington road. There are automatic doors and the reception area is accessed via a lift. I was a little confused at first when looking for the reception, as it’s through another set of doors with another walkway to follow. I guess this would only be a problem the first time you visit. The pool has an accessible changing room with a loo etc in it. The changing table is pretty high, but the centre are looking into how to remedy that. There is also a hoist to use entering and leaving the pool. The gym is at the other side of the building, back past the lift. The gym is pretty big for the size of the building and has a really impressive handcycle. There is a door entry system for the gym which requires a code to be entered, so this might be an issue for some users with a visual impairment for example. There is also a cafe directly in front of the reception. I didn’t use it, but it looked impressive and spacious enough.

Toilets

There is a loo in the swimming pool changing area, which felt a little cramped, but had everything I needed. There is another accessible loo too, which felt less cramped though, as it didn’t have any other equipment in it.

Staff

I was extremely impressed by the staff member Stuart who showed me around the facilities. He was very reassuring, knowledgeable and enthusiastic about me using the equipment. I got the feeling that he was genuinely proud of how they managed to make such an old building so accessible. Fantastic customer service all round.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

It’s hard to believe just how big the centre is. It is very deceiving from the outside, but they have done all they can to make the place accessible. The only thing I think could be better is signage for newcomers when coming out of the lift.

Photos