Here are the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about hiring the facilities. Hopefully you’ll find your answer here, but if not please do get in touch by emailing bookings@theoldrectorysheering.co.uk and we’ll be happy to help.

Q: I have booked a session but it looks like it may be raining – what is your cancellation policy?
A: Bookings of 12 people or less are subject to a 48 hour cancellation policy and bookings of over 12 people or more are subject to a 7 day cancellation policy. If you cancel within these timeframes, you’ll get a full refund. If it is less than these timeframes and you want to cancel, then we unfortunately cannot refund you – make sure you keep an eye on the weather forecast if you don’t want to swim in the rain!

Q: How much is it?
A: It depends on how many people you are booking for, and for how long, but it starts at £35 for 6 people to be here for 1 hour.

Q: If I book a session for 1 hour, does that mean 1 hour of swimming?
A: No, the hour is the total time spent on site, so includes arriving, changing and departing. We advise you to depart the pool by 50 mins past the hour to then have 10 mins to change and leave. This ensures the changeovers are really smooth. If you have a lot of children with you, we recommend you getting them out of the pool at 45 mins past the hour as from past experience, it can take a while to ensure the kids are all out and changed on time. You are more than welcome to book for longer than an hour if you think this is too short, just choose how many hours you want on the “Duration” drop down on the booking tool.

Q: What happens if it’s thunder and lightning?
A: If there is lightning, it’s unsafe to be in water. Therefore if we see any lightning within 30 minutes of your session starting, we will have to cancel your session and you will be contacted via text message and/or email, and your session cost will be refunded. If you are in the middle of your session and there is a lightning strike the same applies and you need to vacate the pool immediately, and we’ll refund you the remainder of your session.

Q: How long can I hire it for?
A: As long as you want! The pool is bookable in 1-hour increments, so you can book for just 1 hour, or for 8 hours if the availability is there. The hour covers your total time on site, including changing after swimming, returning to your car and leaving so please ensure you reflect this in your booking time.

Q: Can I bring food and drink?
A: Food and drink is allowed, but we ask that you are respectful of the space, ensure all rubbish is taken away with you at the end and no food is consumed whilst in the pool itself. No alcoholic drinks are allowed and you must not drink from glass bottles or have glass with you at all as if this enters the pool, we’d have to drain it at great expense.

Q: Can I host my child’s birthday party here?
A: Yes you can and we have hosted a few parties in the last couple of years. If the total group is under 12 people you can just book as normal via the website, but do remember the session time is the total time on site, so if you want to have time to set up/pack down, please ensure you book extra time, plus from experience it takes longer than you think to get 10+ kids out of a swimming pool and changed! If it’s more than 12 people, just get in touch with bookings@theoldrectorysheering.co.uk. Either way, it would be great to have the heads up you are hosting a party as if you are having kids dropped off and picked up, we need to manage the cars to ensure it all runs smoothly so I can give you advice on timings and how to manage this. You are welcome to bring food/drinks and any decorations.

Q: What furniture is there?
A: We have an outdoor corner sofa, which seats 3 people, 2 reclining chairs, 2 sun loungers and a table with 4 reclining chairs – plenty of space for everyone to relax and enjoy the sun.

Q: I have booked for my kids to go swimming, but I am not actually getting into the water. Do I need to include myself in the numbers when booking?
A: Yes – we charge per person on site, irrespective of whether you swim or not. This is because it’s our own private garden and the number of people in the grounds impacts us. If you need to add more people to your booking after you have booked, please email bookings@theoldrectorysheering.co.uk and we’ll be happy to add people on and can send you a link for the additional payment.

Q: Why do the weekends always look unavailable?
A: Weekends are super popular and to give everyone a fair go at getting a weekend slot, we only release the timeslots for the upcoming weekend on the Monday prior. There is a post on the Facebook page when they are live, but it is usually at 9am on the Monday. Understanding that certain events need a bit more pre-planning, we do accept weekend pre-bookings if your group is 12 people or more and you are booking for 2 hours or more (or are willing to pay the equivalent) – if this is the case, just email bookings@theoldrectorysheering.co.uk, and we’ll book you in from there.

Q: Why can’t I book for more than 12 people on the website?
A: We limit website bookings to only 12 people, however we do allow larger groups but because of the volume of people (and potentially cars), we need to have a bit more information before we can book you in. If you want to come with a group of more than 12 people, please email bookings@theoldrectorysheering.co.uk.

Q: Can I bring a speaker and play music?
A: You are welcome to, but we do ask that any music is kept as a respectful level as our neighbours are a church and you are in the garden of our private family home.