Stechford Cascades & Fitness Centre

As council run leisure centres go, this is one of the better ones.
Living in the city this is the easiest/​closest to get to on the train. I get on at Birmingham New Street and Stetchford is just 1 or 2 stops away depending on the train and time. Costing me just £1.60 (With a railcard)
The facilities here are the best I’ve found without having to join an expensive gym/​health club. Offering a full 25m pool as well as two smaller pools and of course the «cascades» in a separate and enclosed area. This offers a great space for kids to have fun and for me it means they don’t crowd the main pool allowing you to swim lanes in peace.
It can get busy from 4 – 7 so I tend to get there for 8pm and swim an hour which I usually do 80 lengths. This costs me £4.30.
The changing rooms and showers are decent and usually pretty clean, no need to sanitise yourself upon exiting.
Friends of mine use the gym and the classes, such as RPM, which they praise. You can even top up your tan here, apparently.

I really wish there was a good swimming pool near to my side of Birmingham, because I’d go swimming all the time. I used to love swimming.
Unfortunately, Stechford Cascades is the closest pool to me, and most of my experiences here haven’t been great at all. I used to have to go here as a child with my junior school, and I always felt that the staff weren’t very friendly or helpful in teaching me how to swim.
Returning as an adult, a lot of the same staff still work here, and that brings back memories every time I go. The pools are quite standard, with one small pool, a larger pool and a jacuzzi area. It’s really hard to pick the best day to go if you are just after a leisurely swim. Most times that I’ve gone, the pools have been rammed full of people, and specifically teenagers who are more interested in messing about rather than actually swimming.

I’ve used this leisure centre for the gym in the past but now I use it for a leisurely swim. They have a big family pool, a pool that isn’t open very often. The other two pools are the ones predominantly used; the biggest pool is over 50 metres long and is what I refer to as the cold pool. Both pools are simple, whereas the family pool has an unusual layout, with a Jacuzzi and then a small slide that takes you to the bottom pool, a shallow pool with sprinklers. They also have a big slide that is open every now and then. I now refuse to go here purely down to the staff, I feel as though they are not helpful and are quite patronising when you seek help.

I visited here for the first time today. I went with my husband, our 12 month old son, sister and brother-​in-​law. We throughly enjoyed the swimming facilities, the cascades and water slide. Our son particularly enjoyed the warm water pool. The staff were very helpful and friendly.
The only downside was the inappropriate behaviour of an adult couple using the family changing room next to us. they were doing rather more than changing!

I used to live about 20 minutes drive from this centre and visited it very often. They have parking outside. They have four pools, a fun one with slides which drops down to a small pool with a jacuzzi. A learner pool and the main pool which is around 30 meters deep at the deep end. They also have a gym, with a good selection of equipment downstairs and a few more machines overlooking the swimming pool. The staff are wonderful and very helpful and encouraging. They also run fitness classes and all of this you can have access to if you get a monthly pass via direct debit.