£30 Aerial Fitness Studio Trials: AirCraft Circus Woolwich

AirCraft Circus Academy runs its aerial classes out of Unit 7A Mellish House on Harrington Way, SE18 5NR, inside the Thames-Side Studios yard in Woolwich. A single trial session costs £30 and lasts ninety minutes, from 7pm to 8.30pm, on silks, static trapeze, straps, hoop or rope. If you like it, the next step is a six-week course at £170. Flying trapeze sits a tier above at £210 for six weeks, or £38 to drop in.

The school's own history page starts in April 2002, when Alex and Nik set up a live/work space called The Hangar and named the company AirCraft Circus, because aircraft live in a hangar. In 2007 they were evicted to make way for London 2012 Olympic development and moved to the building on Harrington Way, which ran as the Hangar Arts Trust for the next decade. The school says it delivered over 7,000 classes in more than 15 circus disciplines in that time.

In June 2018 the current company, AirCraft Circus Academy, was launched. It is run by Lucy Francis and Nik Litton, whom the site describes as a husband and wife team. The rigging side of the business is unusually visible: the team flew performers off the ArcelorMittal Orbit for its grand opening in 2014, supplied flying dementors and Mary Poppins aerialists for the London 2012 opening ceremony, and has done flying effects for West End shows including Matilda and The Play That Goes Wrong.

The aerial studio measures 14 metres by 12 metres with a 6-metre ceiling, rigged with four static trapezes, two silks, two Chinese poles, an AirTrack and six spare single points for straps and hoop. That height matters. It is enough for a proper climb on silks or rope, but low enough that a first class feels manageable rather than vertiginous.

The school's advice is direct: it strongly recommends that anyone new to circus or aerial skills starts with static trapeze. The bar gives you something solid to sit on while you learn to hang, invert and balance, and the strength it builds carries over to everything else. Straps trials come with a warning that they are only recommended if you have tried aerial before, because they load the shoulders hard from the first minute.

Trial sessions are £30 each and run from 7pm to 8.30pm. Silks, static trapeze and straps trials fall on Mondays; hoop and the combined rope and silks trial fall on Thursdays. Each trial page asks you to email to book a date. For a sampler, the Mixed Aerial Taster costs £45 on selected Sundays from 2pm to 4pm and moves through static trapeze, hoop, rope and silks between a group warm-up and cool-down.

Six-week courses cost £170 and include the warm-up and cool-down. Silks, static trapeze and straps run on Mondays from 7pm to 8.30pm; hoop runs on Thursdays at the same time. The autumn cycle on sale now runs from Monday 26 October to 30 November, with the Thursday group from 29 October to 3 December. The 2027 cycles begin on Monday 4 January.

Flying trapeze uses a petit volant, a small flying rig that drops you onto crash mats instead of a net. The course is £210 for six weeks on Thursdays from 6.30pm to 8.30pm or Sundays from 12pm to 2pm, and the £38 adult drop-in is the cheapest way to swing before committing.

Adult courses, drop-ins and tasters are for students aged 16 and over. For aerial classes you need clothing that covers the backs of your knees, your torso and your armpits, because that is where fabric and bars grip and burn. Jeans are not allowed, all jewellery and watches come off, and long hair is tied back. Most classes are done barefoot or in socks.

Payment is in full and in advance. Once booked, course places cannot be exchanged or refunded. Tasters are a little more flexible: cancel at least seven days ahead and you can move to another taster within six months. If you arrive late, the instructor decides whether you join, and usually asks you to warm up on your own first. Friends cannot sit in and watch, but there are cafés on site.

The contact page lists the building's opening hours as Monday 10:00 to 20:30, Tuesday 10:00 to 19:00, Wednesday 10:00 to 17:00, Thursday 10:00 to 21:00, Friday 10:00 to 18:00, Saturday 13:00 to 16:30 depending on bookings, and Sunday 09:30 to 16:30.

By rail, take a train from London Bridge to Woolwich Dockyard and walk downhill to Woolwich Church Street, then follow Warspite Road to the Thames-Side Studios entrance on Harrington Way. Go through the large blue iron gates; the academy door is on your left, opposite The Reach climbing wall. From North Greenwich on the Jubilee line, the 161 or 180 bus from Stop A drops you at Yateley Street. There is free parking on site.

Thames-Side Studios sits right on the river, so an evening class pairs well with a walk along the Thames Path. Head east past the entrance to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel, which runs under the river to North Woolwich, and you reach the Royal Arsenal Riverside, where the old munitions buildings now hold flats, restaurants and the Woolwich Works arts venue.

Head west instead and the steel shells of the Thames Barrier rise out of the water a short walk away, with the riverside park beside it a good place to stretch out sore forearms. Inland, Maryon Park is the hilly green space where Antonioni filmed Blow-Up in 1966, and its upper paths give long views back over the river and the Thames-Side yard.

Book a £30 trial first, starting on static trapeze if you have never been off the ground. Wear leggings and a fitted long-sleeved top, take off rings before you arrive, and eat lightly a couple of hours beforehand, because inversions on a full stomach are miserable. Bring water, and expect your hands and the backs of your knees to feel it the next day.

If you go on to a course, the school takes 10% off full-price six-week courses for students and Blue Light Card holders. The £60 annual membership applies only to AirTime self-practice, not to courses or tasters, so you can ignore it for your first term. Ask the Karpo APP for a pub or dinner spot near Woolwich Arsenal for after class.