Bristol South Swimming Pool

Staying at the Hilton near Redlands, Bristol this evening ahead of a meeting in the city tomorrow. A perfect excuse for an evening swim at Bristol South pool – just a 15-minute walk away.

Opening in 1931, this interwar period pool is a Grade II listed building. It underwent a £200k refurbishment in 2019 and looks awesome for it! Meticulously restored to its 1930s glory, tile by tile.

I arrived at the pool 15 minutes before the scheduled session start, having pre-booked via the Everyone Active app – a handy feature as there is no one on reception. It’s an honesty system. As the waiting area started to fill up, each person scanned in. I’d never seen this before: everyone then removed their shoes and socks and placed them in a neat line around the edge of the café area! There is clear signage asking for no outdoor shoes on the pool deck, but as more and more people arrived, the sight of 30 barefooted people in reception was quite comical. Then it occurred to me that there might be another reason – as the kids' swim session finished, the waiting crowd poured through the double doors onto the pool deck and quickly filled the poolside changing cubicles. There aren’t that many, but fortunately, I found a couple left at the far end!

Changed and ready, I jumped into the fast lane to get started. I had low expectations for the session—just glad to tick off another iconic pool from the list. This also completes the full set of Bristol pools!

It was absolutely packed and set up with three giant width lanes. I set my Garmin watch to 33.3m, assuming a standard length, but it turns out Bristol South is a rather unusual 30.5 metres—exactly 100 feet. Considering the distance covered bridging the gaps at each turn, 33.3m is probably closer to the actual lap length!

Swim done, I made a quick stop at Sainsbury’s on the walk back to the hotel for dinner on the go!

Fun fact for any Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock fans: the poolside standoff with James Moriarty was filmed at Bristol South! Watch the scene here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJXdVRiFedI