Looking to cool down on a hot summer’s day but don’t fancy roughing it in a lake? Manchester may not be brimming with outdoor swimming pools and lidos, but luckily there’s an open-air pool heated to around 27ºC offering year-round swimming – and it’s just over an hour’s drive from the city centre. Nestled in the Peak District, Britain’s oldest national park, Hathersage Swimming Pool provides the comfort of chlorinated water, hot poolside showers and breathtaking views of the surrounding hills.
Nestled in the picturesque village of Hathersage, the swimming pool offers a refreshing escape where you can unwind and have fun, and better still, you can soak up all the natural beauty of the Peak District whilst you’re there. The pool opened back in 1936, as a part of the King George Fifth Memorial Field, which consisted of tennis courts, a band stand, playing field, a sand pit, and a 100ft. by 50ft. paddling pool, which is now, long gone.
As well as offering the usual swimming sessions, the 30m-long pool offers aqua fit and aquatic movement classes, alongside swimming lessons for all ages and abilities throughout the year on a Thursday evening and Saturday morning. One thing that sets Hathersage Swimming Pool apart is that it also night swim events once a month on the third Friday, where you can experience the magic of the pool whilst enjoying some relaxing live music as you take each stroke through the water.
Bit peckish or thirsty after a swim? Hathersage Swimming Pool also has a café serving a range of snacks, main meals, cakes, pastries and drinks to enjoy pre or post-swim.
Plus, the pool is available to hire every Saturday and Sunday evening between 5pm and 6pm, whether it’s a kids birthday party, water polo or you and your friend fancy a nice quiet swim.
📍Hathersage Swimming Pool, Oddfellows Rd, Hathersage, Hope Valley, S32 1DU.
💸 Concessions cost £7, adults £8, kids £4, family £22 (2 adults and 2 children) and spectators £3.
🕒 The pool is open in the summer (April to September) from 7am to 9pm, Monday to Thursday, and 7am to 6pm, Friday to Sunday. Winter opening hours are yet to be confirmed.
🏊 Book a swimming session here.