Clissold Badminton Hall, Stoke Newington: Courts From £12.70

Clissold Leisure Centre is the big modern sports building on the edge of Clissold Park, and it has one of the largest public badminton halls in Hackney. Better runs it for the council, and its six-court sports hall takes pay-as-you-go badminton bookings at prices clearly published online. For anyone in Stoke Newington, Highbury or Stamford Hill, it is the easiest place to book an hour of doubles, followed by a walk through one of north London's best-loved parks.

Few London leisure centres have a story as dramatic as Clissold's. The building first opened in February 2002 after a long and expensive construction, and within less than two years it had to close again, in November 2003, because of serious defects. Reports at the time listed a leaking roof, poor ventilation, cracked squash court walls and water damage to the sports hall floor. While the centre was shut, Hackney Council and the original operator ended their contract, and the council took on the job of putting it right.

After years of remedial work the centre reopened with the faults fixed and new features added, including a toddler pool, better disability access, a new reception and a creche, and Greenwich Leisure, the charity behind the Better brand, took over its running. Since then it has become a busy local institution. Better says it is investing again in a new refurbishment programme, and some areas, such as the training pool, are listed as temporarily closed while work continues. The sports hall remains open for bookings.

Better describes the space as a 6-court sports hall built as a versatile multi-sport arena, with badminton, basketball and football courts as well as netball training courts, pickleball and table tennis. Six badminton courts side by side make it a proper hall for the sport rather than a single court squeezed into a gym, so it often has the buzz of several games running at once. The tall glazed walls let in plenty of daylight, which suits daytime players but can create glare at certain angles on bright afternoons.

Arrive a few minutes early to find your court number and set up, because slots run back to back and the next group will be waiting at the end of your hour. Bring clean non-marking shoes and change in the changing rooms rather than walking in with outdoor shoes. If the hall is booked for a club session or a children's programme, the timetable on the Better app shows which courts are free for casual bookings. Shuttles are your own choice, so bring the feather or nylon type your group prefers to play with.

The centre's price list shows the adult badminton rate as a one-hour off-peak court for £12.70 for non-members, £9.15 for pay-as-you-go members and £6.20 at the concession member rate. Juniors aged 8 to 15 pay £7.65, £5.45 or £3.65 for the same hour. Split between four doubles players, a non-member court comes to just over £3 each, making Clissold one of the better-value halls in north London for a group that plays during the day.

Racket hire costs £3.30, which covers both badminton and squash rackets, and the lockers by the pool and in the basement changing rooms take a £1 coin or locker token that you get back. Squash courts on site cost £12.25 for 40 minutes for non-members, so badminton gives you more court time for the money. Better membership packages can include racket sports, and the price list notes that non-member pricing applies if the activity is excluded from your membership type.

Better publishes the centre's peak and off-peak windows on the price page. Peak runs Monday to Friday from 6am to 9am and 4pm to 10pm, plus Saturday and Sunday from 7am to 1pm. Off-peak covers Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm and Saturday and Sunday from 1pm to 6pm. That makes a weekday lunchtime or a weekend afternoon the natural time to use the published off-peak court rate.

For the week commencing 19 October 2026 the centre is open Monday to Friday from 6am to 10pm, Saturday from 7am to 8pm and Sunday from 7am to 6pm. The main pool follows almost the same hours, opening at 6:30am on weekdays, and the soft play runs from 9am. With a creche on Monday, Tuesday and Friday mornings, parents can book a daytime court while young children are looked after on site.

The centre sits right across from Clissold Park, so the obvious after-game plan is a walk under the plane trees. The park has two ponds, a deer enclosure, a walled garden and Clissold House, an 18th-century villa with a cafe on its terrace. In summer Better also runs the Clissold Park splash pad, which is listed among the centre's facilities. On an autumn afternoon the paths around the New River are some of the prettiest in Hackney.

From the park's western edge, Stoke Newington Church Street leads into the village centre with its independent bookshops, bakeries and Turkish restaurants. Abney Park Cemetery, the wild Victorian garden cemetery at 215 Stoke Newington High Street, is a short walk east, and Rio Cinema at 107 Kingsland High Street in Dalston is a good evening option. Green Lanes, along the park's other side, is lined with late-opening grill houses ideal for a hungry post-match dinner.

Address: Clissold Leisure Centre, 63 Clissold Road, London N16 9EX. Hours for the week of 19 October 2026: Monday to Friday 6am to 10pm, Saturday 7am to 8pm, Sunday 7am to 6pm. Badminton: off-peak adult hour £12.70 non-member, £9.15 pay-as-you-go member, £6.20 concession member. Junior hour £7.65, £5.45 or £3.65. Racket hire £3.30.

Stoke Newington Overground station and Canonbury are both walkable, and buses along Green Lanes and Stoke Newington Church Street stop close by. Book courts through the Better app or website, choosing Clissold Leisure Centre and badminton. Bring non-marking shoes, your own shuttles if you have a favourite type, and a £1 coin for the lockers. For a first visit, play a weekday off-peak hour and finish with a lap of Clissold Park.