On 16th Jan 2026, the Save Oasis Swindon campaign went on a group behind the scenes tour of the Health Hydro ahead of its reopening on 19th January. We went in open minded. I personally used this and the Oasis regularly. The Health Hydro was previously grotty, tired and cold inside.
I’m not going to lie, before going in it was hard to shake off the haunting previous grim experience of cold water, cockroaches and dribbling showers. I remember my swimming teacher in the 90s asked us all to close our eyes so we didn’t see the cockroaches. They are now long gone. 🤣 I learned to swim at both the Health Hydro, or Milton Road as it was nicknamed (and still is) – as well as the Oasis Leisure Centre.
What they have done is excellent and is a world apart from the grimness of the past. Everything drab has been ripped out and rebuilt, with the heritage protected. This gives hope for the Oasis Leisure Centre, another grade listed swimming pool in Swindon.
The changing facilities have been completely replaced. There is air con throughout. The layout is improved. You no longer have to go upstairs, to then go down to get changed. The turkish baths will be interconnected to the pool and changing rooms when their refurbishment is completed at the end of 2026. The new gym is surrounded by panelled partitioned walls, sympathetic to the heritage of the building, and there are artifacts displayed in the main entrance area.
I was initially skeptical about the renaming to “Health Hydro Leisure Centre”. But got told this wasn’t political due to Oasis being closed. The Health Hydro has been called all sorts of things through the years, and a public consultation decided this name. So thats all good. Things evolve. It wasn’t some sort of plot.
The Health Hydro Swimming pool water used to be freezing and unpleasant to get out of, due to the building being draughty. The building has now been properly insulated. The pool water temperature felt warm to the touch. Not as warm as the Highworth pool, but much more bearable.
We got shown around the building, including the plant room. Everything has been replaced with new pool plant equipment for better efficiency. They told me water clarity is better too for swimming with goggles underwater. Some of you asked about disabled access. There isn’t a hoist at the moment due to the challenges of the listed building, but they are working on it.
What was nice was we bumped into another former member of staff of the Oasis on this tour, and she has joined our campaign group. She also used to work at the Health Hydro. She wants the whole Oasis, with a sports hall fully rebuilt. David A Norris came with me on the tour wearing his save Oasis T shirt, which was a nice touch.
We left feeling positive overall. The Health Hydro will take time to get fully up to scratch, but it is moving in the right direction.
There is still work to finish off in the main pool. The walls and decor still need finishing. The small pool is still closed at the moment. I was told the priority at the moment is for them to finish off the main pool area and the turkish baths. The small pool will be next. There were no sign of any vending or coffee machines, but got told they are coming. They still have finishing touches to do, like put in benches, hooks etc in changing areas.
You can sign up for a residents membership which also gives you access to the Link Centre, and eventually the Oasis again when it reopens. It was nice today to go into the refurbished Health Hydro, imagining a reopened Oasis.
The Health Hydro and Oasis are two entirely different swimming experiences, it is important to respect that. I hope to be able to write the Oasis reopening review!
Give the refurbed Health Hydro a try.
