Campbell Swimming Pool

I'm glad to report that, having been up twice this week, the pool is in relatively good condition and the water is warm. The showers are piping-hot too. That's 120 lengths I've swum so far this week.

The Club is offering members rebates or refunds which is fair enough: they'll definitely not break even this year! I can't help wondering how tenable the present situation is: if the new Duty Manager decided to resign would we be "back to square one" again? It took six months to appoint the present Duty Manager.

I see there's a meeting of East Belfast Historical Society tonight, the subject being the celebrated local sculptress Rosamond Praeger MBE. My late father and his brother modelled for her as children when they lived in Holywood, County Down.

Nutty Addiction

I've always been fond of peanuts. Perhaps it ought to be called Compulsive Nut Disorder. I tend to go for the flavoured ones, my favourites being the honey-roasted variety.

Until quite recently I've bought the supermarket branded ones, often a mixture of cashews and peanuts; however, I find that their taste and quality varies if they change their suppliers.

Whilst on holiday I came across a make called Eagle and their honey roast peanuts have been my favourite for many years, invariably buying several packets for the suitcase to take home. They are practically impossible to find here in the UK. I've never seen them on the shelves.

About two months ago, however, I made a momentous discovery: KP Honey Roast Peanuts, which are sold in large 600g containers. They compare very well with the Eagle ones and, indeed, they are now my firm favourites. I know that because when I start nibbling away at them it's very hard to stop!

Most of the main supermarkets seem to stock them, so there's no further need for me to overload the luggage with nuts!

Clash Of The Titans: Belfast Health Clubs Review

I've been visiting health and leisure centres in my area recently with a view to membership; and there are lots of various leisure clubs in Greater Belfast. This review focuses on two of the largest in east Belfast. The gym I currently belong to has fairly elementary equipment which, for me, simply isn't effective enough. So I'm looking elsewhere.

I spent twelve days at David Lloyd's Belfast club, which is the best of the ones I've visited.

Yesterday, I had a trial pass for Esporta Belfast. It took six minutes to drive there in light traffic (takes eight for Lloyd's). First impressions were positive, as you'd expect: warm, clean, comfortable, friendly, efficient.

The changing/locker room is not dissimilar to Lloyd's, although it is smaller; it's clean and tidy. Lockers are generous in size, wooden and a plastic card is inserted inside, instead of £1 coins which Lloyd's uses. The floor is tiled: I think Lloyd's is lino. There is free shower gel in the showers and it generated more foam than Lloyd's! Both clubs have mini-spin-dryers for swimming trunks. If I were to choose between Lloyd's and Esporta's locker rooms, I prefer the size and layout of Lloyd's.

I walked upstairs to the gym. I noticed there was a bowl on a table with sliced oranges and jugs of water. The gym equipment in Esporta Belfast just wasn't as good as Lloyd's: Esporta's seemed less up-to-date, there were fewer machines and, yet again, less space overall. Esporta's gym seemed to be half the size of Lloyd's, making the layout inferior to my mind. The gym itself is well-tended, clean and tidy.

I changed and went for a fifty-length swim. The pool seemed small, perhaps twenty metres; about the same size as Lloyd's outdoor heated pool and certainly a lot smaller than Lloyd's indoor twenty-five metre pool. There were about three others swimming and two lanes were partitioned.

The sauna is larger than Lloyd's, but there's no steam room. There were two smallish, round spa pools overlooking the pool; one was closed. Both were smaller than Lloyd's Jacuzzi.

There's a bar/cafe/restaurant which is fine; a fraction of the size of Lloyd's.

The prices I was quoted for off-peak were:- Esporta Belfast £52 per month, £90 joining fee waived if I join now, first month free. David Lloyd £49.50 per month, £50 joining fee. I'd need to compare and check opening times, class entitlements for off-peak, minimum contract times etc.

Of the two, I preferred David Lloyd's. Their club seems twice as spacious, has a better layout in every department, bigger pools, better sauna/Jacuzzi layout too. In fact the whole building seems much larger. For my money, I'd opt for Lloyd's which I think is the better of the two.

I still think they're both pricey and and may just continue to swim at the Old School combined with membership of the Robinson Centre at Castlereagh (from £23 per month).

Campbell Swimming Pool

Amen, Praise the Lord and Hallelujah, all rolled into one! I've just received an email informing me that the sports' club swimming-pool reopens tomorrow, a Duty Manager having been appointed.

I've been on the brink of joining another club in order to swim, so this news takes the pressure off a touch. I was at Esporta today and I'll write a review about it on Tuesday.

The pool had better be warm enough...

Two Of Belfast's Treasures

It was so beautiful today, sunny, blue sky, crisp and dry that it would have seemed a shame not to have taken advantage of it.

We drove to Minnowburn first: Minnowburn is probably my favourite woodland in Belfast, thanks to the National Trust and its dedicated warden, Craig, with his loyal team around him. Minnowburn's beauty never fails to enthral me.

Today I had a short walk past the newly-created pond, which is overlooked by a large field which shall eventually become a meadow. Several substantial branches have collapsed and snapped off under the weight of our heavy snowfall. The river Lagan is swollen too. It is still very icy underfoot; plenty of snow remaining.

From Minnowburn we drove on to Belvoir Forest and parked at the bird feeders. Another jewel in Belfast's crown, Belvoir has an abundance of wildlife and today was no exception: I spotted a red squirrel, a grey squirrel, blue tit, coal tit, great tit, dunnock, blackbird, robin, magpie and a fine hooded crow perched on the fence, watching to see if we had any food.

Welcome Chinese Takeaway On Belmont Road Belfast

We shared a sweet & sour chicken in batter with fried rice tonight, from the Welcome takeaway on Belmont Road, Belfast. I hadn't ordered from there for years, so decided to give it a go.

It was delivered quickly, within fifteen minutes. The total bill came to £5.50, including delivery. The portion was large; batter and rice satisfactory.

I was a bit disappointed. To my mind, sauce is the key ingredient of a great sweet & sour sauce. It should be half sweet (sugar) and half sour (vinegar), with soy sauce, a dollop of ketchup, perhaps pineapple juice; raw vegetables like carrot, onion, red pepper, pineapple etc. It requires something like cornflour to give it the consistency of a syrup. The pungency depends on the kind of vinegar used.

The Welcome's sauce was weak and insipid. Too runny; I couldn't taste any particular flavour in it at all; certainly none of my listed ingredients (although surely some must have been therein). There was one solitary chunk of pineapple and something red like a sliver of tomato skin.

The quest continues...

Siskins And Redpolls

While we've been experiencing this wintry spell of weather, I've noticed two species of finch which are occasional visitors to my feeders: the little yellow-coloured siskin and the even smaller redpoll.

I recognized the pair of redpolls instantly by their diminutive size and reddish crowns; I checked my guidebook when I spotted the siskins with their distinctive yellow and black colourings. The black bib underneath their beak is quite obvious.

Every bird loves the sunflower hearts, which I buy by the sackful from Jollyes at £28.99.