Kids in London – Swimming at Richmond Pools on the Park

Frustratingly, whilst there is a nice pool at my local gym (at the Virgin Active Gym at The Marriott hotel at Twickenham Rugby Stadium) the times when you can take your child swimming with you are rather limited. So when my daughter expressed an interest in going swimming more often I had little option but to consider the local public swimming pools.

The Pools on the Park at Richmond are situated near Old Deer Park and have their own car park near Richmond Athletic Ground. Alternatively, it’s about a 10 minute walk from Richmond train and tube station.

It was a sunny day as we walked along the thundering traffic of the A316 and crossed the roads at the various crossings at Richmond Circus (so it is safe for older kids to go along without adult supervision) – on the way back we took the stairs up and over the bridge over the road that felt like a bit of a short cut.

After paying the entrance fee (adult £4.40, child £3.50 which are further reduced if you have a Leisure Card) we entered the “Changing Village”. This is a mixed changing room with small cubicles and lockers that have plastic bracelets bearing the key (don’t forget to obtain a token when you pay your entrance fee) although there are some slightly larger cubicles for those with kids.

The signs say you should shower before you enter the pool, but finding the showers (and the loos) is a little tricky. Anyway, finally we were ready for our swim. It’s a huge pool – with some lanes sectioned off for the serious swimmers and a good size area for those who want to take a more relaxed approach. There are viewing galleries at ground level – which adjoin a large café area (Austin’s) which appeared to provide a good range of drinks, snacks and main meals. It seems that many parents enjoy a quiet moment of relaxation here while their kids are in the pool. There are also viewing areas on an upper level – which I guess are for competitions. At the far end is a smaller training pool where numerous adults were having fun with their smaller kids and babies.

Bracing myself, I lowered myself into the water – it was COLD. Absolutely freezing. It took a while to adjust and encouraged us to swim a few lengths just to warm up. We chatted a bit and, as the sun was shining, decided to explore the large outside pool as the glass doors were open.

The water was much warmer outside. I have to say that it was really pleasant swimming around with the blue sky and sunshine above and green trees and bushes all around. We spent quite a while here swimming and playing chase. It wasn’t too busy either. Although I can imagine that on a really hot day, lots of folks come to enjoy the weather on the large expanses of grass and picnic area all around the outside pool area.

Once we had our fill of watery fun we got changed. Not such an easy task – you need 20p for the costume spinning machine (who wants to go home with sopping wet costumes?) and 20p for a short blast of hot air from the hairdryer. And I couldn’t find anywhere to sit and use my straightening irons – must be spoilt from my gym. Mind you, there was a good area for those with very small kids – a playpen to keep them safe while you dry/change yourself and one of those large drying machines that you find at theme parks. But I dared not look down on the tiled floor of the changing cubicles….

Anyway, it was a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon and no doubt we will be returning soon. For further details: http://www.springhealth.net/richmond/index.html