The main pool runs at 28.5 degrees. The small one runs at 30. Anyone who has taken a toddler swimming knows that difference decides whether you get forty minutes or eight, and it is the single most useful fact on this page.
Behind the civic frontage of Northwich Memorial Court there are two pools, a 25 metre main one and a shallower second, plus a water slide, a jacuzzi and a sauna and steam suite for whichever adult drew the short straw and is not going down the slide.
Aqua classes and lessons run through the week, so a general swim is not a given at whatever hour you fancy. Read the pool timetable. Weekdays are generous: 6.30am to 10pm on Mondays and Wednesdays, 6.30am to 9pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Weekends are 8am to 6pm.
Prices are on Brio's pay-as-you-go page: adult £7.20 with an Active Card or £8.20 without, junior £4.30 or £5.30, toddlers under three £1 or £2. What you get for it is a decent, unglamorous municipal pool with a slide. In a wet Cheshire February that is enough.
What it costs: Pay as you go swim, published on the centre's own pay-as-you-go page: adult £7.20 with an Active Card or £8.20 without, junior £4.30 or £5.30, concession £5.75 or £6.75, toddler under 3 £1.00 or £2.00, family of two adults and two children £18.70 or £21.70. The Active Card is free. Gym and fitness classes are priced separately.
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