I love this place. I have visited the Lido a few times in recent weeks and have been impressed by…read morehow clean and organised everything is. It is such an amazing feeling to swim in the early morning sunshine- I highly recommend it. The pool is a great temperature too. Remember to bring a pound coin for the lockers!

Splishy sploshy splashy, that's just how my afternoon went when me and the girls decided to don our…read moreswimwear, some of us wearing a little inappropriate outfits (not naming anyone Huddy!) and head on down to the local pool. Who cares if it's a breezy day, we are British after all. We swim n the Atlantic Ocean, a little pool in Hackney does not fill us with fear. Well actually it was the crazy OAPs splashing around that did but that being said this place is awesome. Seriously cool! It's a heated pool so you'd rather be in swimming than hanging about. There are loads of lanes and it's big enough to fit everyone in. they even have a little cafe there so you can sit pool side and nosh on chips and Slush Puppies like you did when you were a kid. It's not even pricey, a few bob a ticket and you can swim for hours. Thank you Hackney Council, I knew the money I paid you was going somewhere!

Been a member at Hampton pool for about a year and going at least five times a week but now in the…read moreprocess of cancelling my membership... I have seen the place steadily decline over that period...Very unfriendly staff who in all that time have never said "hello, how are you?" etc, never once.. It seems to have attracted a very macho kind of swimmer, always clipping at your heals in the lanes making the swim deeply unpleasant... Not all of us are training for the Olympics..! Regularly now there are at least seven people in each lane. I've notice the older people not coming so much anymore possibly because of the bullying nature of some of the swimmers in the lanes which is very sad... The men's shower area is tiny with mould on the roof..Often filthy toilets.. Sometimes they decide to clean the floor in the middle of the day so you're dressing/undressing on a floor soaked with detergent.. The place seriously needs new management and a massive shake up as Hampton Pool has the potential to be amazing but is presently a very stressful and intimidating place to swim. Shame...

Us Brits, eh? Give us an inkling of hot weather and we all race to the beach or the local pool en…read moremass but come the colder months, you couldn't pay us to step near water. I point the finger at myself, by the way, but visiting Hampton open air pool recently made me wonder why I ignore this place for 9 months of the year. One of the things that I love about this pool is that it is open all. year. round. So you could come for a swim on Christmas Day if you wanted. Or, you could come on New Years Day and swim off the hangover from the night before. Before you all run off it horror, let me just tell you that the pool is heated. It is also an Olympic sized pool, which is divided into lanes so you can have a work out at your own pace without some local Michael Phelps coming up behind you. There are plenty of programmes here, like parent toddler, or aqua aerobics - but if you want to swim solo, best bet is to check the timetable website so you can see when the pool is best to visit. It's about £4.50 for a individual swim, but they do lots of packages that knock down the price.

The Marshall Street Leisure Centre is a community gym, pool, and day spa owned by the Westminster…read moreCouncil. It recently re-opened after a major refurbishment. The 25m pool is stunning---a relic of Victorian leisure and is worth a quick glance even if you don't go for a dip. It's conveniently located on a side street, moments from Carnaby Street & Oxford Circus. As the complex is owned by the council, it is remarkably affordable...most memberships start in the 40 pound range without any sort of long-term contract or commitment. They also do day passes if you just want to drop in and use the pool. In the pricey world of London gyms this is really amazing value. However, the low price comes with some draw-backs and the centre doesn't draw the same posh crowd found at 3rd Space or the Oxford Street Virgin Active. Marshall Street can also be crazy busy after work. Try coming here at 7pm and you will queue a bit to get a treadmill or to the free weights (the free weight section is small with only 2 benches). That said, come on a Saturday or Sunday and the gym will be virtually empty! If you're looking for an affordable no-frills gym with central London's most stunning pool, The Marshall Street Leisure Centre needs to be on your sort-list.

For the gym: Staff is pleasant, nice equipment but for the love of God no one picks up after…read morethemselves here. Aren't we all adults? Re-rack your weights people.

Can you keep a secret guys?? Not many people seem to have noticed it yet, but a year and a half…read moreafter the Olympics there's some exciting stuff going on in Stratford again... Yep living near the Park is paying off nicely at the moment - my new local council swimming pool is none other than the Aquatics Centre! It's been open to the public for the last few weeks and I have to say it's a pretty special venue - I still get tingles every time I walk in. It's £4.50 per swim session for an adult and there's an easy peasy online system to book in advance. There are 2 full size pools inside - the Competition Pool for the hardcore swimmers and the Training Pool where they separate the lengths into two 25m sections. Personally I found a 50m pool to be ridiculously long in real life (my superwoman stamina is a err work in progress) so I tend to do laps in the 25m lanes. You choose a pool and a start time online but it's pretty lax once you're in, and you can stay as long as you like. The water is a nice slightly warm temperature and it's usually a uniform 1.2m depth all the way along (though somehow they can change the depth of different sections - the mind boggles!). It's not all lanes - there are also sections of the pool roped off for 'fun' as well as swimming lessons. Also saw signs for a total wipeout stylee 'Splash Time' for kiddies at weekends that sounded like great fun if anyone wants to lend me a child?! The reason it misses a 5th star is that the changing rooms and shower facilities are just not that great. It's spacious yes and there are plenty of cubicles, hairdryers and lockers, but the layout is a little confusing (quite a wander from the lockers to the female showers), they seem to have too many staff/cleaners milling around not doing much, and the showers themselves seem temperamental and need you to wave a hand past every 3 seconds. Is this how Michael Phelps showered?! (*pauses to enjoy the mental picture*) Ahem. Yeah I expected better. So remember to bring your own towel+toiletries, a plastic bag for your wet cozzie (I haven't spotted a drying machine yet) and a £1 coin for the lockers. And please only tell your special friends - the nicest thing at the moment is that it isn't too busy on weeknights! See you there :)

The swimming pool itself is great, most of the time quiet, you can choose your line depending on…read morehow fast you want to swim so that you don't get disturb by other people while swimming. The changing space however is really poor for this kind of aquatics centre - you can really tell you're just meant to come, quickly change, swim and leave. There are few showers and they are quite temperamental. The lockers and cubicles are just not that comfortable to use. So it's a very good pool, but come there for exercise only and not hoping for a full spa experience!

A great respite from the London heat. I visited on a weekend and easily found parking on the street…read moreright by the lido. There was no queue and it was relatively painless to get through to the pool. I wasn't able to use a locker however as I only had a £2 coin and reception had no change to provide me with pound coins for the lockers. Luckily I hadn't brought much of value with me so I hopped in and kept an eye on my belongings. It was quite busy with it being a blazing hot day, people had obviously been there sunbathing on the concrete all day! The lanes didn't feel too busy though when I was in the pool swimming. The pool is not heated so it can be a bit chilly when you first get in until you've got used to it. It was a delightful swim, to be swimming outside in England felt very novelty! It was generally clean, but a few things did float by on my swim. The changing facilities aren't the best, with only one small communal female changing area, with just one cubicle for privacy. It would be nice if they had some cubicles by the side of the pool like the Charlton lido, but maybe they didn't feel they had the room. There is a cafe on site, which by the look of it you had to access from outside, but there is a window that serves snacks and drinks. The only seating option when you are pool side is the bare flat concrete, so make sure you have a couple of towels with you so that you can lie out, I also took some flip flops for when I was walking about as opposed to going barefoot. I would definitely recommend this lido and I'm sure I will visit again, although I have now discovered Charlton lido, which is a lot closer to my home. The Art Deco style at Brockwell is much more aesthetically pleasing though!

For someone who's lived down the road from Brockwell lido for 5 years it is a disgrace I've not…read morevisited sooner. During the glimpse of our heat wave I came here with a friend on a Friday. Surprisingly we got a space in the car park (we know this was pure luck!). The parking is (I think) 2 hours free but it's not very clear whether you have to make a note of that when paying, so we just paid everything... hope they are enjoying getting all that free money Mr Parking God. When we got there the queue was way out the door at about 30 people deep we didn't have to wait too long to get in though. Once in we headed for the lockers which are few(!) And are located outside. There's about 40 lockers for the 100 people there. We walked into the changing room...and quickly walked back out it's very open and smelly. Standard. The pool itself is wonderful and fresh and you don't feel like you're swimming on top of people which is nice (especially as half the pool was closed when we visited). There's a cafe/bar (which is slow serving but worth the wait). The flooring isn't great, you're laying on concrete, bring a squishy towel. Apart from that it's a decent day out for some sun and a swim. Be warned sitting near the deep in. The kids jumping in and dive bombing constantly becomes tiresome. The poor lifeguards, is all I felt for the next few days! They deserve a medal.

Hemel Hempstead Swimming club is one of the premier clubs in Hertfordshire with over 220 members…read morefrom age 6 to our Masters who are considerably older. The club aims to help swimmers to fulfill their swimming ambitions which can range from mastering a particular stroke to competing in top flight swimming galas.

really cool, and the people that work there (specially the lifeguards) are usually really hot! :D…read moreHas everything you need really and i like the layout. The outdoor pool is perfect really for sunny days as you can take a picknick, grab the kids and relax while they enjoy themselves in the kiddy pool!

I've had some fun times in this place…read more It opened in 2006, so it's still pretty new. I really like it. I used to have a LifestylePlus card which meant I could swim at any time for 50p a throw or use the gym for the same price, but it has since expired and I no longer qualify, so I must shell out the full whack of £3.30. There is usually no limit on the time you can spend in the pool, I've not used the gym but I believe the same is true of that. There are two pools, a small learners one and a regular sized (25m) pool with a freestyle section and lanes. If you go during the day there are likely to be school kids having swimming lessons, but this rarely infringes on your own swim fun. Quite frequently though, you will have the pool nearly to yourself. Remember 20p for the lockers! You can read about some of my exploits there, here: http://suffersforhersins.blogspot.com/search?q=janet The pool is named after Janet Adegoke,who was the first black mayor of London. I respect this woman for all her political and social achievements, but mostly because she has a very pleasant pool in her name. Well done, Janet. And thank you.

Clean and never-busy pool, which is always useful. I've tended to go at normally busy times, but…read morehere there are generally 1 or 2 small groups of children and parents, learning to swim or playing about, and then lanes for the more serious swimmer. Depending on when you go, there are 1-3 lanes available. Never too much hassle, and it's never too busy. Around 6 months ago, the pool smelled a little like they had a toilet drainage problem but this appears to be sorted now!

I used to go to this gym but stopped when a male friend of mine told me that one of the personal…read moretrainers informed him that male staff watch women get changed in the dressing room from the boiler room.

I am writing to you to compliment the high calibre of staff here at the YMCA. This morning a…read morefemale lifeguard (on the 7am shift), checked in on me to see if I was alright. My swimming cap was not covering my ears (which the audiologist told me to avoid getting water in them). She noticed me pulling on it in the deep end of the pool. She went above and beyond to see if she could find a spare cap for me in the back room and from reception. I do not know her name. However, I would like to give positive feedback about her. She left at 8am when changing over with Gary. I would like to give feedback about Gary who does life guarding in the pool area. I have had the pleasure of knowing him since I joined your club in April 2021. Whilst I was swimming and reached the wall at the deep end of the pool, he introduced himself to me and asked if I was OK with him keeping watch around the area, to which I replied yes. I asked him if he was a swimming instructor, as well as a life guard and he confirmed yes. My initial impression of Gary was one of a professional and friendly person who takes his job seriously and who cares about members' safety. I felt reassured and also confident that I would be in an environment with friendly staff. It is now April 2023 and I can say that my first impression of Gary remains of high esteem. I enjoy speaking to him and have observed he is well liked by other service users (as people always greet him when they arrive and leave the pool). My most memorable times at the YMCA have been when Gary, Sinead (the swimming instructor) and Warren (both of whom I have not seen in a long time), have been on shift. I can say without a doubt that their presence makes attending the YMCA even more worthwhile. They are kind hearted, enthusiastic and encouraging!