Purley Pool

Poor old Purley pool. They keep threatening to knock it down, but for the time being it’s clinging on by a chlorine-​scented string of slime.
Okay, it’s old, and it’s tatty. It’s where I had swimming lessons as a primary school child, diving for rubber bricks in my pyjamas and all that, and you might sometimes be forgiven for thinking that it’s not been used since.
I suppose we’re all too used to shiny, neon-​lit gyms and the like these days, and the grubby old leisure centre at Purley isn’t what most people are looking for. But it does do the job. It’s a proper, 25-​metre pool, you can have a swim for just over £3, and it’s not usually so busy that you’re all trying to swim up each other’s speedos.
It’s fantastically easy for parking, as the old multi-​storey that used to serve the now derelict Sainsbury’s is still open, and you can park in the evenings for free (hold your breath on the greasy and urine soaked stairwells, though, and park in a well-​lit bit near the exits).
If too many of us stop using facilities like these, then the council will be justified in shutting them down. Croydon is a huge borough, and it just doesn’t have enough stuff like this. So pull out your cossie and get down to Purley for some lengths — it’ll do you and the area a power of good.