Dulwich Leisure Centre

As part of the Fusion network of leisure centres in South East London, along with other centres in Herne Hill, Camberwell, Peckham and Elephant & Castle, this is a council-run gym that does a very good job of acting like a much posher and more expensive one. The range of classes is excellent, the membership fees are below average and there’s even a swimming pool, a feature that sadly can’t be boasted by all centres these days.

No, the swimming pool isn’t as big and shiny as the one at Peckham Pulse, but what more do you really need than lanes, water and a friendly lifeguard? It’s a bit disconcerting when the changing rooms suddenly fill with children some time shortly after 9am but it’s a pretty small price to pay for the convenient location and fair membership fee. Flipflops are advised for getting to poolside though, I have bad memories of childhood verruca attacks…shudder…

Elsewhere the gym facilities are perfectly adequate, the staff are helpful and the whole enterprise keeps its feet firmly on the ground. There’s nothing I detest more than a gym that thinks it’s a nightclub, so the refreshing lack of unnecessary frills at Dulwich Leisure Centre is a relief.