Currently closed for a refurbishment that was long overdue. Great pool to learn to swim in for…read moreyounger kids and used by Anaconda Swimming Club. The deep end is deep enough for learning to dive. We miss this pool as was a handy place for training or just a quick local swim. Good showers changing room basic. No doubt they will be updated as part of the refurbishment Edit: Pleased to say this has now reopened as from Saturday 4 February 2012 although Anaconda no longer use it. Not been back not sure we will be back as all the kids have outgrown it.

From the owner: Enjoy the state of the art gym, studio. swimming pool and tennis courts in the heart of the City of…read moreLondon. The centre is brought to you by City of London Corporation, in partnership with Fusion, a highly experienced sports and leisure organisation. As a registered charity, Fusion continually reinvest to improve and develop what's on offer in your community. So why not make us your first choice when you want to get active?

There are many mini squares in Hoxton…read more Not all are created equal. Of course many will flock to Hoxton Square to grab a patch of grass...errr dirt, and soak up some sun on the off chance there may be some. HSQ is active, lots of bars/restaurants surround it and it's kept very nicely...as are all of the parks I've been to in Hackney. (my council tax at work!). But I much prefer Aske. A quiet little half square just a street over from Hoxton Square on Pitfield Street. It has; - 1 very nice tennis court. - 1 full court basketball court with scoreboard. - Many benches. - Lush green grass. I much prefer to picnic (Pitfield & Kurious Yellow Cafe are nearby or Yours Food Centre is right next to it and has a lovely organic section, drinks, water) or hang out in Aske compared to Hoxton Square Park. Watch some tennis or bball, sit with the dog, walk around a bit. It's smaller, but much nicer in my opinon. *there is always a wait for the tennis courts on a nice day. Be warned! *I feel this park gets less peed on/puked on during the weekends because its more open to a main street. By humans, obviously. *Less dogs running around unleashed because it is near a busier street. *Open Dawn til Dusk, like most parks in London. And the real kicker? One day I was walking my dog through here and was cleaning up after her and one of the Park Attendants came up to me and thanked me for doing so. In my 10 years of having a dog, no one has ever thanked me for this thankless duty (pun intended) -- but I really appreciated it and thought it was nice. Also, pick up after your dog if you have one!

This is a great city run course for kids to learn tennis…read more Held in Tower Hamlets community open courts in Bethnal Green Gardens and Mile End Stadium. Apparently concern over the lack of tennis stars coming thru Wimbledon that are British (think Tim Henman or better yet don't !!) has provoked a course of funded tennis classes to be set up for kids in Tower Hamlets. Targeting children from ages 5-16 years old - hour long classes are available for £1.00/£2.00 - 3 times a week. Check schedule for specific age group coaching. My son goes on Thursdays and since it is outside courts -- classes have often been very rainy! However in true British fashion the classes are rarely cancelled and head coach Jaime has a pretty big weekly groups. He shows up with his kit including 30 kids tennis rackets, balls and assistant. The program has only been running for a year and have already had close to 3000 kids received some coaching. Expectations are high - watch out Wimbledon 2020!

The tennis courts are great, but other than that, it's really not a lot of green for gardens. I was…read moreexpected a tiny parks of some sort, but it's not escape here, still view of the road, and just not somewhere to sit and chill. Less complaint now that it's been edited to say that it's just tennis, and not somewhere picnic suitable! Oops!

8 lovely hard tennis courts in Burgess Park available for £4 an hour…read more Great way to spend the afternoon.

Shoreditch Park is like an ugly dog…read more Even an ugly dog is still pretty good -- because its a dog and I like most dogs. That's how it is at this park. It's a park, which means its a nice place to hang out, relax, open space, a large boulder, an ugly "x" sculpture art thing, etc. It serves its purpose, though not in high fashion. Even an ugly park is a park -- and for that, we thank it. *no bathroom facilities. *courts must be booked at Brittania Leisure Centre.

Shoreditch Park has never appealed to me. From outside it looks like a rather flat and bleak…read moreexpanse of grass. It's also bounded by some rather ugly housing estates. But in the interests of furthering my knowledge/reviews of my area, I knew I had to go in And I was pleasantly surprised to find it growing on me. On the summer evening when I visited the wide open expanses are busy with people playing games. In the centre there's a path with some low benches where a gang of skateboarders (some of whom looked like they are actually office workers) were practising their moves. To add to the activity there's a whole mass of courts for various games along the road just south of Britania Leisure Centre. Bookable at the centre, and actually in good nick and in use. Other features are nice wavy benches, tile edgings along some of the paths and the Dorothy Thurtle Memorial Garden. There's also some building work going on, to construct and open air performance space apparently. There are still better parks in East London, but as a local park it's still obviously providing an amenity to the locals, and if you are in the city and feeling sporty, you might want to pop along.

Tottenham Green Leisure Centre is quite large, holding classes of all types, wet and dry…read more Travelling here is easy by bus, as there is a bus depot a few minutes walk away from it, and it is within walking distance from Seven Sisters tube. The car park is cheap, and small. I n recent years, I have only ever used the modern gym that they have, with sauna and steam room, and the swimming pool. They really do cater for everyone as on Saturday afternoons, they have a fun and waves session in the pool, where you will find kids galore having a great time. There is a small water shoot for the kids too, so they love it. For the adults, they have Aerobics classes, and also have a separate pool for diving, where the floor gets deeper by the touch of a button. As for facilities, they have squash, table tennis, badminton and basketball and I must be forgetting something. They have a fitness hall for all classes, where they have Martial Art, keep fit etc. It is a well kept fitness centre. They do have a membership which is definitely cheaper than most, and also allows you to use other facilities in the Harringay Borough. I haven't been for a long while, I drove past it a couple of days ago and said what I usually say, 'Oh yeah, I got to renew my membership'. Oh yes, one of those thing which I forgot to add, is that they also have a library, you see, they really do cater for everybody!

Tottenham Green Leisure Centre to my mind has been a pretty poor option for serious swimmers over…read morethe years. There only ever seemed to be 1 lane available for non-casual swimmers i.e. people who actually want to swim for fitness gain, as opposed to kids who want to splash each other, shout, and generally annoy the people who have paid the full cost to get into the pool. A little anecdote that I should relate regarding the pool. A friend was was warned by another swimmer to be careful to check all their clothing and bags when leaving the pool. The problem is not as one might immediately think, of light fingered scallywags helping themselves to the personal property of others, although I am sure that may go on. The issue is that the pool changing rooms are infested with cockroaches that, if you are unlucky, will attach themselves to your person. At some point of course they will decamp, possibly to infest your home or workplace. So having learnt this I have decided not to start visiting the pool again. A shame as I pay a ton of council tax, as do others in the borough. Shame on the management of the centre, who collect their secure salaries every month, whilst accruing index-linked pension benefits for a comfortable retirement, yet are not bothered enough to deal with what is very likely a fairly easily solved pest control problem. Shame on them, sack them all.

I remember this from years ago as a pretty bleak square of grass. I'm not sure if my perceptions…read morehave changed or it's actually improved, but it's seemed quite pleasant on my last few visits. It's still basically an open square of a park, though it does dip down on the west side, and has some nice houses bordering some areas. All the paths tend to head to the centre, where the action is. Here there are kids play areas, and a 'no dogs' etc garden for quiet sitting or little kids to play in. There are gangs of teenagers around, but a mix of people of all ages as well. You might also see a game of cricket going on. The area is racially mixed, and some communities are more into it than the ethnic English! My favourite part though is to the North West, where there's a little wild patch, and avenues of London Plane trees.

The reasons for me liking this rather unassuming 17 hectare stretch of grass in East London are…read morethreefold: firstly, location. While the nearby Nightingale and Pembury Estates provide less than salubrious surroundings, the park itself is built on an elevated piece of land overlooking the City, with great views of the Gherkin. It also appears to be the marker for where Heathrow-bound planes dip their wings and hang a right on their approach - a hypnotic manouvre performed on an unending 30-second loop and best watched while lying on your back in the grass on a cloudless July day. The second reason is that Hackney Downs is not London Fields, my other local park, populated by a population of live-in frisbee-tossing fixy-pushing twats. Denizens of the Downs, a much larger space by comparison, have lots more space to play with even on the busiest of days. Lastly, I live round the corner, a literal stone's throw from all the Down's well-lit facilities: jogging track, footie pitches, monkey bars and tennis & basketball courts. At the drop of a hat I can throw on some trainers, burst out of my front door, and lose myself in my own slice of London's extensive green space.

This place has a motorbike and a behelmeted mannequin hanging over the bar, as if they've just…read morecrashed through the wall. That's pretty cool. Not sure if it's supposed to be an anti-drink driving thing, or just a way of showing that this is a venue for DANGEROUS PEOPLE. I went to see a friend's band play in the back room, which is a decent size for a pub's music area. It's also all black. As is the makeup and hair of most of the clientele. Yep, we're talking goth / metal types, just like you used to see in the common room at school. Bless 'em. The beer is cheap and sold in plastic glasses once the music starts. They don't accept cards. The main bar is absurdly brightly lit, which might be why the goths hide away in the back room. If you're into glamour, cocktails, gastro-style food, attractive punters, seductive ambience and a short trip from central London, maybe give this place a miss. If you like ROCK and METAL and BLACK and SMALL CRAMPED TOILETS and A SLIGHTLY THREATENING STROLL TO / FROM EAST HAM TUBE STATION, head there immediately. Oh, and on the way, keep an eye out for a pound shop with an intriguing sign out front. It offers goods at 50p £1 £1.50 ++ ??, apparently.

THE WORST. Save your money Australia and DO NOT stay here. It is NOT at all how it is presented on…read moreall its social media platforms whatsoever. Absolutely too far form the Tube and London. 45min+ ride, as well as 20 min walk from East Ham station. Bus service is nil. Neighborhood not secure or welcoming to tourists, the terrible food stench in the entire property from their catering facility was unbearable and nauseating, WIFI constantly offline, in addition to their management disregard to families and patrons needs and concerns, they are not transparent or accountable. Stay in central London, do not waste your money and time with this property. THE WORST. DO NOT stay here Australia, thumbs down 110%. Buyer beware.

Redbridge Sports Centre is great. To be honest, I never really go there but I do know it's great…read more My problem tends to be that as much as I like going there for a game of tennis or to work out, I find it much easier to check my facebook and eat a bowl of cereal. If on the other hand you are slightly more motivated to exercise than me, then you should head to Redbridge Sports Centre. The tennis courts are really nice. They're quite expensive just for an hour - but I've often preferred paying for one of their courts for an hours use than heading down to the park to play for four hours in the freezing cold. And I guess that is a key to what works in the Centre's favour - the luxury of it. It's all very clean and friendly, which makes it seem more inviting than, y'know, going for a jog in the freezing Essex rain. I've never been a member of the gym (which I'm sure doesn't surprise you due to my lazy nature) - but indeed, it looks well equipped and everyone looks happy, at least as much as I can tell looking through the window and seeing them. But then again, they're not as happy as me walking past sipping a coke and munching on a bag of wotsits. In summary, yeah - this place is cool. It doesn't seem to have changed since I was a kid, yet everything is still top of the range.

The Redbridge Leisure Centre is awesome. It also confused me once, because to get to the RLC you…read moreneed to get off at the Fairlop underground station, which is two or three down from Redbridge. I phoned a friend and arranged to meet him there for tennis and he said he was there waiting for me. I got to Redbridge station, got off, looked for 20 minutes for the leisure centre before my friend told me where I actually had to go. A joke! I got there and, from the front, you can see into the gym. It's a really long room and one of the times when I was there I saw four huge coloured guys on treadmills with like full hoodies, chains, jeans on! Not that it's relevant to my story but it was a very interesting spectacle. The indoor tennis courts here are awesome. With eight courts available for the moderately pricey price of £20 an hour (the demand is large and it's London after all) to play on excellent carpeted surface, indoors, away from the elements of Winter.. for me, the deal is worth it. The balls moves fast and makes everyone look alot better then they actually are when they play on it. If you're a tennis fan, I definitely recommend this place to you! But remember, Fairlop... not Redbridge...

Mile End Park might be London's most underrated park. Completely unbeknownst to tourists who…read moremainly beeline to West End parks, this East London park is a slender 79-acre strip of fabulous modern design, gardens, lakes, and culture/leisure centres along the beautiful Regent's Canal. It's a low-key local gem just across the street from the more popular, sprawling Victoria Park. In my Top 5 Parks along with Regent's and Hampstead Heath

I really love Mile End Park on a quiet day (when the weather is rubbish, hah :)) - there's plenty…read moreof space and I keep discovering new bits I haven't ventured to yet. There is the 'Eco Pavilion' which overlooks a few ponds. Several areas of trees/wildflowers. Close proximity and easy access to Regent's Canal, where one can take a nice walk down to Victoria Park or the Hertford Union Canal. If you're thirsty there's a cafe, and if you fancy a beer the Palm Tree pub is close by. The couple of downsides are that 1) it's never closed and there are sometimes some street drinkers/groups of drunk people inhabiting certain areas and 2) It's next to two very busy roads.