Withington Baths & Leisure Centre

I was visiting the area and needed a place to do my usual swim. Beautiful pool and building. The pool itself was a bit hit and miss temperature wise, cold in some parts and hot in others (maybe a pump issue?) and the showers were freezing! But the staff were friendly and just a lovely place to visit.

I was visiting the area and needed a place to do my usual swim. Beautiful pool and building. The pool itself was a bit hit and miss temperature wise, cold in some parts and hot in others (maybe a pump issue?) and the showers were freezing! But the staff were friendly and just a lovely place to visit.

Aesthetics: Oh Withington Baths and Leisure Centre, you really blow the competition out of the water in this regard. The tasteful wooden doors. The sublime window. The bespoke reception area and Lego model of the building. We love the history wall which details the building’s interesting lore and fortuitous restoration. Highly appreciate the colours, especially in the sauna, which, at the risk of sounding like this South Manchester-based pool’s target demographic, give Wes Anderson. Put your head in the water whilst swimming and things can get a bit serene and it is quite delightful, provided you don’t read the section on water quality. 9/10 Pool Dimensions: More or less your common-or-garden size, not particularly massive and not too tight. I’d appreciate a bit more depth, but sometimes you can expect too much and it is good to be happy with what you have got. Imran from a few Google Reviews south of us claims that his child drowned in this pool, and far be it from me to question his expertise in this area but the only way I see this being the case is if his child is/was three inches tall. 5/10 Amenities and Facilities: Standard issue gym. Perhaps the best sauna in the business, with an ambitious size and fun little rocking chairs to wait your turn in, although the sauna showers are basically a single stream of water. The clientele and staff cultivate a very collegiate and genial vibe, if not particularly warm. Prudes may turn their noses up at the changing facilities, given that they are located around the edges of the pool and are relatively low cut, but I find this lends a bit of a frisson to the changing experience and adds to the gentleman’s club atmosphere. 8/10 Water Quality: Life is made up of compromises. It is perhaps to be expected that, when receiving high quality amenities and aesthetics in such a venerable location, there are certain sacrifices you have to accept. Here, the sacrifice is bitty. Sadly, the rumours of bitty are not greatly exaggerated. For those of you who are not pool cognoscenti, bitty refers to the flotsam and jetsam that can accumulate in pools if they are not adequately maintained — hair, skin flakes, matter, etc. The quaint beauty of this pool’s water is marred by bitty. Bitties lay strewn across the length and breadth of the pool, they float in its midsection, they cling to your arms and legs. Bitty here, bitty there, bitty everywhere, it is truly Bitty City. Swimming here with goggles can feel like one is playing Crossy Road, only with the player character replaced by one’s lithe swimmers body and the cars and trains and whatnot by tangles of pubic hair and specks of black matter. Things can go from Wes Anderson to Paul WS Anderson in a remarkably short amount of time, especially if you are somewhat prone to accidentally ingesting water when you swim, like yours truly. Eating and drinking bitty should never be something you accept as part of a gorgeous swim. 5/10