Love Melksham Column

A resident’s love letters to her town

This week, my regular love letter to Melksham is an expression of gratitude for our brilliant swimming pool.

There is something so wonderful about being in the pool, feeling the cool expanse of water all around you, as you find a gentle rhythm to glide through it. And every time I swim there, I’m so grateful that Wiltshire Council chose to invest in this fantastic facility for Melksham.

Surrounded by space for sport, study and socialising, the swimming pool is the sparkling sapphire jewel in the crown of the Melksham Community Campus.

It is only four years old and is a warm, clean, modern 25-metre pool with six lanes on a gentle gradient from the shallow to deep end. Next to the main pool is the smaller, warmer learner pool, so there is space for everyone to feel welcome.

You can choose from a range of sessions: the focused discipline of lane swimming, the splashy social fun of the All Welcome swim, a separate Family Swim to spend with the children, or the more gentle Aqua Relax or Disability Swim for those who prefer a less adventurous experience.

I prefer the streamlined simple lane swim in the unhurried gentle flow of the slow lane, where we nod polite greetings, give each other lots of space and settle into a pleasant painless pace up and down the pool. Occasionally I glance over at the speedy athletes in the furthest fast lane, furiously front-crawling with forceful arms and faces fully immersed, and then return to smile at my fellow gentle slow laners, some of us so smooth in our silent breaststroke that we don’t even get our hair wet.

The popularity of the early morning sessions means it’s best to book in advance (there’s often a queue outside before the 6.30am opening), while the late night swim can sometimes be so peaceful that I’m the only one in my lane, quietly singing REM’s night swimming to myself.

Membership of the pool is £32 a month (with concessions available) or £6.50 per session, and feels like really great value, with sparkly clean and warm changing rooms and showers, loads of lockers, and a watchful team of lifeguards keeping the whole place safe. The campus offers excellent parking and the all-important café to reward yourself afterwards, as you relax into a sense of achievement and wellbeing after your swim.

With its range of sessions and excellent staff and a year-round reason to keep active and healthy, our excellent swimming pool is another great reason to Love Melksham!

Miriam Zaccarelli

Picture from  Melksham Community Campus facebook page