Palmer Park Leisure Centre & Stadium

Great facility overall but too crowded and in need of a tighter control for swimmers. Pros: It's a new facility only 2 years old so obviously the changing areas, gym equipment and overall facilities are good. Nice showers, hot water, etc. Aerobic area in the gym has a lot of different machines and covers all basis. Cons: Pool and classes are super crowded and you have to book days in advance if you don't have flexibility with your times. The pool is too shallow (only 90 cm one end) so for anyone trying to do competitive swimming this is a no-go, you can't turn properly and you are likely to touch the bottom if you have long arms. The pool is designed for kids and 'teaching' which is fair. There's a booking process but some people don't respect it and some days you find 30 people in a pool which has 6 lanes, obviously this is too much. Lanes are 2 slow (for people who can't swim and who just want to go and float in water), 2 medium and 2 fast. So if you want to swim you are restricted to 4 lines which is not good enough. Also some people access the pool with gym t shirts and underwear and while I understand it is complicated to challenge this, it has to be done. Outside velodrome / athletics court... Very difficult to understand who can access and when. Staff refer you to website and app to find out what activities you can do, they are not aware. There's huge potential for using this but most days it is empty so clearly underutilized which means I am not the only one who is not clear about the rules. Conclusion - improvement needed to make it more user friendly and control crowds a bit in the pool.

Great facility overall but too crowded and in need of a tighter control for swimmers. Pros: It's a new facility only 2 years old so obviously the changing areas, gym equipment and overall facilities are good. Nice showers, hot water, etc. Aerobic area in the gym has a lot of different machines and covers all basis. Cons: Pool and classes are super crowded and you have to book days in advance if you don't have flexibility with your times. The pool is too shallow (only 90 cm one end) so for anyone trying to do competitive swimming this is a no-go, you can't turn properly and you are likely to touch the bottom if you have long arms. The pool is designed for kids and 'teaching' which is fair. There's a booking process but some people don't respect it and some days you find 30 people in a pool which has 6 lanes, obviously this is too much. Lanes are 2 slow (for people who can't swim and who just want to go and float in water), 2 medium and 2 fast. So if you want to swim you are restricted to 4 lines which is not good enough. Also some people access the pool with gym t shirts and underwear and while I understand it is complicated to challenge this, it has to be done. Outside velodrome / athletics court... Very difficult to understand who can access and when. Staff refer you to website and app to find out what activities you can do, they are not aware. There's huge potential for using this but most days it is empty so clearly underutilized which means I am not the only one who is not clear about the rules. Conclusion - improvement needed to make it more user friendly and control crowds a bit in the pool.

One of the best parks in Reading to spend time with friends and family. The park has a good sand pit area for kids and an outdoor gym area for adults. The leisure centre is also very good. The swimming pool is a good one for beginners but not suitable for seasoned swimmers. The only downside is parking, if you come in any evenings (both weekdays or weekends) you will have a tough time finding a spot to park.