Furzefield Centre

This has been my local sports centre since I was five. Over that time, The Furzefield has evolved a lot but has consistently remained one of the local institutions in the area serving the local community.
These days, in addition to the swimming pool (which was used in a couple of notable episodes of Grange Hill years ago!!), there are loads of sports facilities.
I mainly go for the gym, which is split onto two levels and is actually very well equipped for a regular public gym.
The indoor sports hall caters for everything from indoor football to badminton to Karate to trampolining to kids run around play and much much more. There are also squash courts, a full size all-​weather football pitch and a kids indoor soft play.
Yes, there are more slick and comprehensive fitness centres around — even locally — but you will invariably pay much more for membership at them. And, the beauty of this place is that you don’t even need to have a membership as you can pay on the door for any of the activities.

Now, don’t think David Lloyd or Virgin gym … Now carry on reading!
For a local council run establishment this is pretty darn good. The annual membership is less that £40 per year, which means that on every booking you get a discounted rate. Squash for example goes down from £11.30 per game to £7.30 per game. It is pay as you go, the more you use the cheaper it gets.
There is a whole host of activities and facilities on offer here, including a pool, beauty centre, Physio, personal trainers, racquet sports, astro pitches and classes to name a few.
You would think that the showers would be toe curling and want to avoid at all costs, but this is not the case. Always cleaned to a good standard.
The staff on the reception desk are chirpy and always help out, even if you are having a «blonde moment», forget some equipment or mess a booking up.
They have an online facility, which is very easy to use and means that you don’t have to faff around calling up when at the last minute you remember that you should have booked the court for that evening!
Availability is fantastic and to date I have not had an experience of not being able to do what I wanted to.
There is free WIFI at the centre and also a café.
This primarily works for me and my friends as there is no commitment to a contract and is PAYG, so you don’t feel like rubbish for wasting a month’s membership when life gets in the way of trying to shift that gunt!
Like I said, it is no 5* gym, though nor does it claim to be. It does what ti says on the tin and is a fantastic facility.

I’ve used the pool it’s a good size, with diving facilities.
A little over-​priced for non-​members.

I like it, but sometimes Im at a loss as to why. Im a swimstyle member so dont use the gym, but swim in the pool up to 6 times a week. The pool itself is nice, 33.3m in the mornings and 25m in the afternoons thanks to a retracting wall. However I have never swum in it when there isnt a plaster floating in the swimming lane. Also the changing room floors are disgusting, I recently left the entry receipt in a cubicle on a Friday and found the same receipt on a Sunday. (I know it was the same receipt as my name was printed on it). The trouble is the hygeine standards arent enforced, I often see mothers who have taken the time to put the blue overshoes on but then push their childrens pushchairs right onto the poolside and the staff never bat an eyelid let alone challange them. Unfortunately this breeds an if I cant beat them attitude and the place just gets filthier

The Furzefield Centre in Potters Bar has a gym, swimming pool, Astro turf and various other sports things. I only really use the Astro & the Gym so my review will be of that.
The Astro turf is easy to sum up, it’s good. It’s a good size, in good condition and has all the equipment you might need for a number of sports.
The gym is where I spend most of my time when here and I like it. There are two floors, the ground floor has the changing rooms and a large number of different cardio machines so there is something for everyone here. The upper floor also has a few more cardio machines, some different to the ones down stairs. The machines are all a good distance from the TV’s so no need to squint. The rest of the upper floor is taken up with weight machines and a small free weight area. There are machines for targeting all the different muscles in the body and the free weight area has a bench press, smith machine, weights ranging from 1kg to 40kg. The only thing I’ve found to be missing is a preacher curl bench and the gym could also do with a few more bench presses as they do get taken up a lot when the gym is busy.
In all this is a good place to go work out, never really, really busy and the staff are all friendly and helpful and the price isn’t too extortionate. Plus a girl who is identical to Heidi Montag works here which is always spooky to see.

It suits my needs being close to home and great monthly all-​in rates where you pay no more to go to classes or use the gym. No contracts (unless you want to sign up to one for a cheaper deal) and you can suspend membership for a month at a time if you go away or whatever. Staff have all been there a long time and are welcoming and friendly. It’s perhaps not as polished as Sportz Academy but then it’s a third of the price with no ridiculous joining fee or 12 month contract. Definitely functional with a good selection of kit including the new vibrating plate things everyone is raving about now. Four TV screens showing a mix of channels changed on request and an audio selector box at each station with radio stations and canned music on too. Use it four/​five times a week and no reason to change :) Is a registered charity.

Def. go for the monthly membership if you can — great savings as they include swimming pool, gym, Spa and classes.
Amazingly busy car park — especially on footie nights, but the gym is nice and quiet. They have plenty of equipment –at least 2 of everything, too so no queuing.

A lesiure centre offering a decent sized pool, badminton and squash courts for hire, a health suite, fitness classes and a well-​equipped gym with cardio and resistance machines.
It is pretty pricey if you pay each time you go but they offer fairly decent rates for monthy membership (because it is a council run gym). It is definitely worth becoming a member if you intend to use the facilities on a weekly basis
The showers here are pretty dodgy (except the ones by the gym) but that is my only complaint!