Bristol South Swimming Pool

This is one of the original Victorian swimming baths in Bristol, and one of the last survivors, now that Bristol North has closed down. The pool is old fashioned porcelain tile, and is invariably freezing. The changing rooms are just curtained cubicles down the sides of the pool, and the showers are a row of two push-​button heads in full view of each other and the pool, so don’t expect to have a full strip-​down wash. If you want to get any serious swimming done you will have to go to one of the lane swimming sessions, as a high number of intensely annoying children and teens will make it virtually impossible to swim lengths when the pool is open for general use. The water is strongly chlorinated, and it needs to be, as it usually contains a large number of discarded plasters and nauseating hair balls. The greatest thing Bristol South has in its favour is that it is an awful lot cheaper than other, more modern swimming pools, and its survival is probably also helped by the fact that there isn’t another pool for miles around.

I’m quite the sort to enjoy a bit of casual lane swimming from time to time. I’d say that the Bristol South Swimming Pool was probably my local, sadly. Really cold, inside and out of the water, and with very little provisions and facilities for swimmers, it’s not the best.
It’s never busy in term time though, so if you fancy a splashing up and down for a while, it’s not too crowded. It’s probably best if you wait till you get home for a shower as there’s only one, which looks out onto the pool.
The building is quite interesting, it looks a little like a church, and has a balcony all around for spectators. The council really needs to step up its game though, or it will definitely loose out to the likes of the Lido in Clifton or other private pools.

Living in North Bristol, there is nowhere to go swimming without taking out a mortgage to afford membership to a private pool, so I went to Bristol South. I found the pool eventually, and after two local trains and a trek in the rain I found Bristol South. The lady on reception was very blunt, telling me the pool was very cold and also that there were no lockers as too many people had kept the keys, meaning I had to leave all my stuff in the open. The pool itself wasn’t even that cold! I went for the lunchtime lane swim and there were no more than two people in each lane, three lanes in total across the whole pool, which made them quite spacious. As far as facilities go, this pool is definitely lacking. The changing rooms are around the sides of the pool, there is one shower for men and one for women in full view of the pool, and a few badly kept toilets at the far end. I wouldn’t really recommend going.

If you’re not too fussy about aesthetics or enjoyment, this is a pretty good place to go and churn out some laps. The pool itself is one of the biggest in Bris so you can happily switch off and settle into autopilot and there are laned swims every lunch time too.
If, however, you’re after a ‘fun’ swim then this probably isn’t the right option, as the crumbling building, lack of changing rooms (there are cubicles surrounding the pool) and local Bemmer clientele may not be to everyone’s tastes. Functional? Yes. Fun. No.