swim! Oldham

The leisure centre in Greenfield is a proper working-class spot, no frills but genuinely useful if you're staying nearby. It's got pools - including a teaching pool which is dead handy if you've got younger kids who aren't confident yet - and the main swimming area is decent enough for a proper length swim. The building itself is functional rather than fancy, all bright tiles and chlorine smell, but that's fine. You're not paying through the nose for pretend luxury.

It works best for families who want to burn off energy on a rainy afternoon, or swimmers actually looking for somewhere to do lengths without the Instagram crowd. The water's warm, the changing facilities are reasonable, and staff seem to actually know what they're doing. If you're staying at Dovestone Holiday Park just down the road, it's absolutely worth knowing about - saves you driving to one of the posher complexes in Oldham town centre.

Check their website or ring ahead for the current opening times and session details, because leisure centres shuffle their schedules about. Go mid-morning on a weekday if you want elbow room. Saturdays get rammed with kids' classes and parties. Allow an hour and a half including changing time. It's not the sort of place you'll write home about, but as an integral part of a Yorkshire break where the weather's turned, it does the job properly.