So this is where it all started...the beginning of a rather bizarre love with swimming pools as a…read moreplace for fun - the memories of youth - I remember the excitement when this leisure pool originally opened in 1976 - it wasn't a rectangle it was round! What was this madness? Half the pool was too shallow to actually swim in and it had waves. This was the very first time I had encountered a "leisure" pool - oh trend setting, thoroughly modern Swindon you have so much to answer for - (along with the famed "magic roundabout"). I still return here with the kids every time we jump on a train to visit my wife's family. It is a great pool but looking distinctly tatty round the edges now. The domed roof desperately needs renewing - it looked spectacular 30 years ago but putting that aside its still super fun. The pool itself is beach style with a separate small kids pool. Good kids pool with 3 slides plus pirate ship.... The main pool has a steep three lane multislide and a new long slide circles inside the building (77m long). But really it is the flumes here that count and these are top. The Domebusters have a had a refurb this year and one of them has been replaced. All are approx 100m in length.So first off The Sidewinder A fairly gentle, spiralling flume aimed at younger children and parents. You can sit or go head first. The Great White My favourite - heads first ONLY never seen that on any other slide! Normally feet first everywhere.... A fast ride with two small vertical drops and several twists and turns. The Storm The new this year straight fast flume - small circumference with a striped lighting effect and sounds.. Didn't get to try this out this time - but will be back to do so....busy with an under 5... The session time was only an hour - which is really not long enough and it is fairly expensive considering the stingy hour. There are not many reasons to visit Swindon but this is definitely one if you are a water slide fan or the kids love to swim. . --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update So I came back to try out the new flume which I hadn't managed to try out last time. Managed to slip away from a family visit for a couple of hours with my teenagers. Interestingly GLL have taken over the management of the leisure centre since we were here in 2012 (they run most of the pools we visit in London). It had been spruced up a bit with the new corporate livery...but still the stingy session times. We took no notice of the session times and made good use of the domebuster slides. So The Storm was the main attraction - small tube, dark, with striped lightning and fast with the descent as a helix. A big thumbs up from the family - a great slide but not in our top 5 slides. The Great White remains the favourite - head first you can pick up some proper speed and fly over the steepest vertical drops... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oasis is a great place to take the family swimming! They have a huge laguna pool that boasts water…read moreslides, a wave machine, a smaller pool for the children and a big water sprayer. They do a range of different classes such as mother and baby Swimming, OAP Swimming and also offer swimming lessons. They have also just started doing gigs with people such as 'The Sugababes' 'Cascada' and 'Shayne Ward' perfoming there.

I went for the first time with my eldest for a birthday party. It is a huge climbing place situated…read morein one of the old warehouses and is like a tardis when you step inside. There is a small bar with plenty of seating and serves a good range of both food and drink, you then walk on upstairs to where the main climbing centre is. The staff are friendly and professional and certainly focus on the safety aspect of the sport, there is a huge area for climbing and abseiling and also the boulder room where you can just free climb with deep cushions to land on should you slip. The party itself was well run and the instructors kept the kids entertained in between taking turns in climbing. The food was normal kids party food but was tasty and soon demolished. I would certainly keep this place in mind not just for a kids party but for a new activity to take up myself - all in all a very enjoyable visit.

This is a really nice sports facility where you get a welcome as soon as you enter. There is ample…read moreparking facilities on site and the opening hours mean you have little excuse not to go and utilise your membership. The reception staff are fantastic, I really feel that nothing appears to be too much trouble for them. The facilities on site are good, occasionally, I have found the water in the pool to be a little cool, but thats maybe me. The changing rooms are always immaculate and they offer good facilities, there are lots of hairdryers and it reminds me of a spa in there. The gym itself is well laid out and is a comfortable temperature for your workout, it has never been too busy and I have never felt that I have been looked down upon for my poor physique - whereas some gyms you feel uncomfortable. The staff are all really friendly and helpful and after your workout there is a really nice restaurant which serves really nice food and really tasty coffee.

A good leisure centre with lots of facilities; however, parking is very sparse considering the size…read moreof the centre. Also, we came to spectate a swim comp at the weekend, and the spectating area was hotter than the face of the sun, lots of people were finding it hard to cope and had to go outside for fresh air when possible. Also, during the same competition, the Barton Pool was very murky to the point that swimmers were struggling to see under the water, which was not great for a swimming competition! We enjoy coming here, but something has to be done about the temperature in the main pool spectator area, it's unbearable!

I take my children swimming at GL1 and it's fantastic. There are slides, bubbles and even a baby…read morehot tub in the childrens' area, and there's a standard shallow learner pool alongside the fun pool. The family changing area is spacious and there are plenty of cubicles, each with a wall mounted toddler seat and a baby changing station. Everything still looks new and well maintained. The prices are reasonable and the coffee shop is clean and very convenient for a post swimming snack. I believe that the other classes and facilities are of a very high standard, although I personally am yet to investigate them.

Had a three day trial. Gym and pool are both large, but that's where the positives end…read more Changing rooms and showers are filthy. Toilet paper was on the floor for three consecutive days when I went. Toothpaste and what appeared to be mud had been sprayed up the shower cubicle wall. Jacuzzi hot tub is cold, not heated at all. I sent an email asking how often the changing rooms and showers were cleaned, and what the temperature of the hot tub is set at, but I never received a response. A couple days after my trial finished. I received a marketing calls from the leisure centre asking if I'd like to sign up with them. I explained that I had emailed but received no response and I asked them on the phone how often the showers were cleaned and what are the temperature of the hot tub was. They told me that they didn't know how often the showers were cleaned and that it's supposed to be done by the lifeguards..they told me that they didn't know how often the showers were cleaned and that it's supposed to be done by the lifeguards. they also told me they don't know what the temperature of the hot tub is set at and that they would speak to their managers, who would then gets back to me. I wasn't surprised when I receive no response from management after waiting two weeks for one. Conclusion: For more than £40 a month, I would expect the changing rooms and showers to be cleaned at least daily and I would expect professionalism from the staff. Unfortunately both of these things are not apparent and I would warn anybody before taking out a monthly or yearly contract with the leisure centre that you check these conditions for yourself. If I had actually received a phone call back from the managers I might well have ended up signing up to the leisure centre because it's closer to me than other gyms. However, I have now signed up to another gym which happens to be a lot cheaper and the quality is much higher.

1* because of the car park, an Absolute scum bag operation. You can park legit and prove it and…read morethey still fine you and send copious amounts of aggressive fine letters with no contact details. This car park ruins the leisure centre reputation.

Canolfan a Llyfrgell Star Centre and Library is an impressive, purpose built leisure centre and…read morelibrary complex situated on the main street in Splott. The centre first opened in 1981 and was taken over by the Council in 2001 when it underwent minor refurbishment. It has recently undergone a further, more extensive refurbishment programme, which has led to the development of a modern Fitness Suite, as well as a disabled lift that is sited in the foyer. This phase also saw the incorporation of the new Splott Library. Splott is considered to be a 'problem area' and suffers from high unemployment and the associated social problems of economic privation. A small number of the kids in Splott are responsible for some pretty anti-social behaviour, and the sports centre is one of the local amenities where it's hoped that children from all backgrounds can meet and have fun. It offers an extensive programme of activities for children throughout the summer, including indoor athletics, football, badminton, baseball, basket ball as well as more creative pursuits that come under the general banner of arts and crafts, and include things like jewellery making, glass bottle art and clay modelling. In a bid to try and constructively engage the local under sixteen's at the weekends, (when trouble is most likely to erupt), the centre holds a youth night every Friday. Facilities: 6 x Badminton Courts Basketball Netball Indoor 5-a-side Fitness Suite Classes: swimming, gymnastics, soft play, yoga etc... Group Fitness Sessions: circuits, aerobics, boxercise Children's activities: including children's parties and holiday programmes. Full disabled facilities and changing room Food and Drink: hot & cold vending machines, snack machines, and fully licensed Bar Meeting rooms Function room . Membership/Savings: The Max card or Active card membership schemes offer the opportunity to save money on all council leisure activities. Useful Info: Bus Numbers: 11,12,13 Car park at the rear of building, with disabled bays and assistance where required. Email. STARCentre@cardiff.gov.uk

The Star Centre is the hub of Splott! Staff are so friendly. I have developed a friendship with the…read morestaff in the library. They're extremely helpful and polite. They go out of their way to help the community. Staff in the library help children with their homework and entertain teenagers with hilarious stories. Its such a shame that the Star is closing down and it will never be the same without the great local atmosphere. The Star holds events for families which I have taken part of and deeply enjoyed. There is also a gym. I hate to mention a small complaint. 2013 I joined a martial arts class in the Star and it was not very helpful. I learnt the language-not the art of physical activity. It wasn't memorable experience Other that that the Star is a great local place to meet up and have fun!

The Link Centre has it all…read more Swimming Pool Sports Halls Outside 5 a side pitches Squach Courts Ice Rink Climing Wall Bar Cafe There's probably more than that - but I think you get the idea. My boys attended the Hi5 Kids club in the holidays and were very impressed - they were allowed to use most of the facilities - so it felt like a treat for them not a childcare solution! The ice rink is home to Swindon Wildcats ice hockey team. Another reason to visit!

I have only ever used the Link centre for its swimming pool, which is gala size (25m with 6 lanes)…read moreand is great for swimming training. The changing facilities have a lot to be desired, very small and cramped with not much locker space available. There is an amazing climbing wall available here to all those climbers out there. They also have squash courts and a large ice rink. This is more of a competitive sports centred leisure centre than a fun day out kind of place. If you want to train/exercise, this is the place to be.

It sounds wrong to say this is a run of the (tread)mill sports centre but it's probably the best…read moreway to describe it to give you the right impression. It has two pools, small (baby) pool and a regular, 25m, large pool. It has wet and dry changing facilities - with the swimming / wet ones having a refurb recently. The reception staff are a real mix, some are really friendly, helpful and enthusiastic and some just look plain bored. We have found the teaching staff to be nothing short of excellent, a dedicated bunch who have a real passion for swimming. We have small children and they have thoroughly enjoyed their lessons and have progressed well with the tuition. We get regular feedback, often weekly as how they are doing and where they are heading. The swimming pool is light, functional and perfect for swimming lessons and lane swimming. Most of the time the temperature is good and the lanes aren't very busy the times I have been. They have the floats out on Saturday afternoons to add a bit of variety. The viewing are is a row of seat all along one side of the pool and with a glass waist high partition you can view the swimming area easily and communicate with people in the pool. The sports hall is viewable from the reception area, I haven't been in but I've seen Zumba classes, roller hockey and badminton going on through the large glass walls that go down one thirds of the side of it. Refreshments wise there are a couple of drink vending machines (one hot, one cold) and also snack machines. Also a small but adequate range of swimming items are available for sale in the reception area such as costumes, goggles, floating aids and a limited amount of gym clothes.

Nice swimming pool and gym facilities. The badminton hall is nice and tall and is ventilated nicely…read morehowever there is a glass wall overseeing at least the first two courts and it can be a pit off-putting for players but means spectators can watch without being in the way of play. Recommended.