Swindon’s Oasis leisure centre to close
News that Swindon’s Oasis Leisure Centre is to close took me by surprise – mainly because I was amazed it was still going up until now. I didn’t even think it was open back in 2008, the first and only time I went to Swindon, Wiltshire, for some freelance work. It looked pretty run down and derelict then; naturally I took photos.
The leisure centre is famous for inspiring one Liam Gallagher to change his band name from The Rain to Oasis (according to this blog, one of the most boring bands ever). He had seen on a poster that Inspiral Carpets were playing a gig at the Oasis leisure centre, and the rest is Britpop history.
• The centre has been saved from demolition and was awarded Grade II status in December 2021.
