Puregym coming to Stafford.

Feed The Goat

Well-Known Forumite
Esporta = Waitrose
Virgin Active = Sainsburys
Pure Gym = Poundland

Predictably, Stafford is heading in its usual direction. For gods sake we can't even justify a swimming pool!
 

PeterD

ST16 Represent.
Would the cost of a puregym membership and use of the pool at the leisure centre be cheaper than virgin active? Puregym isnt as nasty as you are implying, trust me I have used them, they have pretty good facilities at an affordable price.
 

Jade-clothing

Well-Known Forumite
Would the cost of a puregym membership and use of the pool at the leisure centre be cheaper than virgin active? Puregym isnt as nasty as you are implying, trust me I have used them, they have pretty good facilities at an affordable price.

Yes it would be cheaper, but I think it's a lot more convenient if you want to use both for them to be in the same building.
I'm quite miffed - I was going to go and join Virgin tomorrow on my day off - mainly to use the pool, spa and beauty salon but I would have used the gym as well. I don't find the times for swimming at Riverside as convenient and it suited me to have everything in one place. Having said that I don't have a problem with Pure Gym, anything that saves money is good by me and I'd always rather see a unit occupied than sat empty.
 

kyoto49

Well-Known Forumite
Riverside does have a spa / beauty bit too...

Riverside lol. It's been Stafford Leisure Centre for a good while now :). I guess they couldnt call it a sports centre as it doesn't really offer any sport, well apart from 2 squash courts and some badminton occasionally.

At a bit of a tangent, my daughter competes in Acrobatics, and some of the comps are in proper sports centre's. What I can;t get my head around is places like Yate near Bristol, a smallish place, with a population of c21,000 can have a sports centre that houses a proper sprung gymnastics floor as well as a 25m pool and masses of free parking, (http://www.activecentres.org/centres/yate/) yet Stafford population c70,000 has vastly inferior facilities. Make my blood boil what this borough council inflicts on us.
 
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PPPPPP

Well-Known Forumite
The Virgin takeover of Esporta was a complete shambles, so no change there.

What they should do is have two separate facilities. Plenty of VA members only swim, and those who want to cripple themselves by messing around with weights can go upstairs to sweat, pose or see a physio.
 

airbusA346

Well-Known Forumite
Plenty of VA members only swim

Yup, I'm one of them.

And I don't want to have to work around a timetable (like at Stafford Leisure Centre) and being told that I have been in the pool long enough.

Can't see it being cheap to get rid of the swimming pool either.
 

Tants

Well-Known Forumite
Surely there must a be a place in Stafford somewhere to build an open another pool in competition to the council one. Just demand for swimming lessons alone should be enough to keep one busy. A money maker for someone that can afford to get it up and running!
 

John Marwood

I ♥ cryptic crosswords
Surely there must a be a place in Stafford somewhere to build an open another pool in competition to the council one. Just demand for swimming lessons alone should be enough to keep one busy. A money maker for someone that can afford to get it up and running!

 

PPPPPP

Well-Known Forumite
Surely there must a be a place in Stafford somewhere to build an open another pool in competition to the council one. Just demand for swimming lessons alone should be enough to keep one busy. A money maker for someone that can afford to get it up and running!

How about a marshland lido on the Morrisons site?
 

littleme

250,000th poster!
We used to use the pool & gym at the Tillington Hall Hotel.....whatever happened to it? Anyone know? Bring it back!
 

McPhee

Well-Known Forumite
Like others, I'm not fussed that Virgin is going. I am, however, severely brassed off that the pool is being filled in. The Leisure Centre just doesn't have the capacity to meet the demand placed upon it. If a different business was taking over, one that had an interest in keeping the pool open, I'd welcome them with open arms. I'd happily move my membership over. Instead, I can't help but feel a little hostile toward the deal. Virgin struggled because they over priced themselves - more than double the price of the Leisure Centre for the equivalent membership package. It wasn't because there was a lack of demand for their fascilities.

Stafford's pool is oversubscribed. The only remaining alternative nearby is Alleynes, which has the same problems and is looking a bit grotty now (it's evidently very old and in need of sprucing up). While there's a decent number of Gyms in and around Stafford, none of them have a swimming pool.
 
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John Marwood

I ♥ cryptic crosswords
I remember swimming in Heath Town's splendid Victorian baths

Sadly gawn along with hundreds of others

The Nation appears obsessed with bulk and brawn rather than stamina and relaxation

RIP swimming UK
 
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