When did going to the swimming baths get so expensive?

rudie111

Well-Known Forumite
My better half and I took our little one to the swimming pool at Stafford Leisure Centre over the week end. Although the little one got in for free (under 5s do) adult pay £4.40. By the time you add £1 for parking, we didn't see much change from a tenner! To top things off, we only had an hour in the pool before we had to get out. Yes it was a Saturday, but it was hardly busy.

It has been a fair few years since I had used the baths but the prices seem steep especially as you only get an hour!

Does anyone know if they let you stay in longer during the week?
 

Entropy

Well-Known Forumite
Nope,

You get given a colour coded wrist band. After your allotted time has expired the SS guards single you out and ask you depart the pool.

£4.40 is pretty damn excessive to be honest...especially when if you want to get decent swim session in, you cant.

Why not park in ASDA? its free for up to 3 hours and just a short walk away.
 

My Name is URL

Well-Known Forumite
Know what you mean OP, our little one (1 year old) only lasts 30 mins in there before getting too tired.... but if both parents want to spend quality time with her in the pool then we have to pay £8.80 for the pleasure.... usually means one of us has to sit it out and miss out. Very annoying.
 

That-Crazy-Rat-Lady

Well-Known Forumite
The canal is free!

Always popular this time of year!

(Joke! Wouldn't advised throwing your precious tykes into the canal - although there prob is less poo in there than Riverside...)
 

rudie111

Well-Known Forumite
To be fair, the Mrs did suggest it but we were running a little late. 1 hour swimming just seems too short. They should at least give you an option to pay for 2 hour sessions!
 

andy w

Well-Known Forumite
From what I gather it is expensive to heat and keep a pool clean and you have to factor in the staffing costa as well.
Maybe someone can shed some light on whether the pool makes money, breaks even or has to be subsidised by Stafford BC.
 

jacs

Well-Known Forumite
Does anyone know what the Virgin Active pool is like? I really love swimming but hate crowded pools, screaming kids, and rude adults, which describes every council-run pool i've ever been in. If the Virgin Active pool is a nice experience I might be tempted to join.
 

hop

Well-Known Forumite
Does anyone know what the Virgin Active pool is like? I really love swimming but hate crowded pools, screaming kids, and rude adults, which describes every council-run pool i've ever been in. If the Virgin Active pool is a nice experience I might be tempted to join.

For the cost of joining most virgin active clubs you could typically run your own outdoor with an air source heat pump and good solar cover during the summer months. I say typically since the cost of heating a pool varies a lot particularly on the wind so the more sheltered it is the better)
You can get some very good pool cleaning robots these days for under a grand and they clean the walls and floor for you using the standard outlets connected to your plant room.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Or put an endless pool in your garage...

endless-pools-planning.gif
 

phildo

Well-Known Forumite
Does anyone know what the Virgin Active pool is like? I really love swimming but hate crowded pools, screaming kids, and rude adults, which describes every council-run pool i've ever been in. If the Virgin Active pool is a nice experience I might be tempted to join.

I'm a member at Virgin Active and the pool is quite good, it always has 3 swimming lanes marked out with buoys and each one is designated for a speed (fast, medium, slow). The rest of the pool is for open swimming, splashing about, lounging about etc. Everyone is polite, I've never experienced any rudeness. Some times can be busy (Saturday am) and there are kids in there as family membership allows kids in the pool but again this is only noticable on weekend mornings and they're well behaved.
 
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