If you want to play squash in Bristol without joining anything, you have four realistic options: Workout Harbourside on Welsh Back (£15 a court for non-members), BAWA in Filton (£8 for 45 minutes), Horfield Leisure Centre (two pay-as-you-go courts, price unpublished online) and ESC Kingsdown (three courts, book online in 45-minute slots). That's the whole list, and it's shorter than it was five years ago.
The story behind the short list is the actual story of Bristol squash. Courts aren't closing so much as disappearing behind membership desks. The city's biggest squash venue, Redland Green Club, is members-only. All three David Lloyd clubs are members-only. The universities have courts you mostly can't book on your own. Meanwhile the money in racquet sports has visibly moved to padel: Bristol has gained more than 30 purpose-built padel courts in a couple of years, all bookable by the hour by anyone with a phone, while nationally chains like David Lloyd have been scaling squash down as they build padel out. One Bristol coaching outfit, Onyx Squash Academy, reckons the city once had 27 public-facing courts. Nobody would count anywhere near that on a pay-and-play basis now.
We checked every venue below against its own website in August 2026. Where a price isn't published, we say so rather than guess.
The pay-per-court list at a glance
| Venue | Courts | Casual price (40–45 min) | Booking | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workout Harbourside, Welsh Back BS1 | 4 glass-backed | £15 per session, non-members | Online or at reception | Squash membership £36.99/month if you get hooked |
| BAWA, Southmead Road, Filton | 4 | £8 per 45 min; members save £2 | Phone: 0117 976 8064, option 3 | Racquet hire £1.50, balls £3.30 |
| Horfield Leisure Centre (Everyone Active) | 2 glass-backed | Not published online — check the app or call 0117 903 1643 | Everyone Active app/site | Courts refurbished in the 2025 revamp |
| ESC Kingsdown, Portland Street BS2 | 3 | Shown at checkout — not displayed before you book | Online via Pitchbooking, 45-min slots | Book at least 2 hours ahead; casual bookings welcome |
Everything else with a squash court in Bristol needs a membership before you're allowed on it.
Workout Harbourside: the club that stayed open to everyone
Photo: workoutbristol.co.uk
The club on Welsh Back has been a squash venue since the early 1980s, back when it traded as the Welshback Squash & Health Club (a name you'll still find in old directories, though that club's own website is long dead). It now runs as Workout Harbourside, and it's the only private club in the city that publishes a straightforward non-member court rate: £15 a session, paid online or at reception, four glass-backed courts with a viewing area.
Fifteen pounds between two people is £7.50 each, which is decent for a city-centre court you can walk to from anywhere in the old town. If you end up playing weekly, the maths flips: the squash membership is £36.99 a month including gym and classes, so it pays for itself at three games a month. There's a £15 joining fee. But the point stands that you never have to join, and that makes it the default answer for visitors, lapsed players and anyone testing whether their knees still forgive them.
BAWA: the cheapest court in the city
Photo: bawa.biz
BAWA on Southmead Road in Filton is a not-for-profit members' association with four courts, and its own price list is the best-value casual squash we found anywhere in Bristol: £8 for 45 minutes, with sports members knocking £2 off (maximum two member discounts per booking, which tells you non-members are expected). Racquets are £1.50 to hire and a ball is £3.30, so two complete beginners can walk in and play for under £15 all-in.
The catch is friction. There's no online booking for squash; you phone the sports reception on 0117 976 8064 and pick option 3. It's also out by Filton, so it suits north Bristol far better than anyone south of the river. If that's you, it's the pick of the list by price and it isn't close.
Horfield: the council-side survivor
Horfield Leisure Centre came out of its £4.8m refurbishment in February 2025 with its two glass-backed squash courts intact and repainted, which counts as a result. When a leisure centre spends millions extending the gym floor to 160-plus stations, squash courts are exactly the sort of space that gets sacrificed, and these didn't. Court hire is pay-as-you-go through Everyone Active alongside the memberships.
The frustration is that Everyone Active doesn't publish Horfield's casual squash price anywhere we could find online. You get the figure in the app or by calling 0117 903 1643. We won't print a number we couldn't verify. Budget on it being in the same band as the other venues here and you won't be far out, but ring first.
Kingsdown: still bookable, under new management
Photo: elitesportsuk.com
Kingsdown Sports Centre on Portland Street quietly changed hands and now runs as ESC Kingsdown under Elite Sports UK. The good news for casual players: the three squash courts remain open to everyone, bookable online through Pitchbooking in 45-minute slots from 7am on weekdays, no membership required, minimum two hours' notice. We ran the booking flow ourselves in August 2026 and next-day slots were wide open.
The bad news is the same transparency problem as Horfield. The booking system only reveals the court price once you're at the payment step with an account, so we can't print a verified figure. Third-party venue listings suggest low teens per session, but treat that as rumour until you see the checkout. Equipment hire is available at reception if you turn up without a racquet.
The members-only tier, so you stop wondering
Redland Green Club in Redland is the former Bristol Lawn Tennis & Squash Club and the serious squash address in Bristol: six heated courts, 17 internal box leagues, 18 county league teams and four coaches. It's also members-only, with no pay-per-court option; once you've joined there are no court fees at all. Two things soften that. It offers a free taster session before you commit, and as a registered Community Amateur Sports Club it will consider reduced fees if you're on a low income. If you're playing three times a week, it's where you'll end up. It isn't where you start.
David Lloyd's three Bristol clubs (Westbury, Long Ashton, Emersons Green) all still list squash, and all of it sits behind full club membership. Westbury has also added two padel courts, which is the national David Lloyd pattern in miniature: squash quietly shrinking inside the clubs while padel gets the investment. For where the hourly padel courts actually are, our Padel in Bristol guide covers all of them.
The university courts aren't the loophole you think
The obvious clever answer, "just book a university court", mostly doesn't work in 2026. UWE's Centre for Sport at Frenchay has four excellent glass-backed courts that have hosted professional tour players, and courts are free for its Active Card members. But a member of the public on pay-as-you-go can only book squash as a £4 guest accompanied by an Active Card member. Know a UWE member and it's the best deal in Bristol; don't, and the door's shut.
The University of Bristol is murkier still. Its squash courts page currently redirects to the general sport homepage, and we couldn't find any bookable public squash court in its system in August 2026, so we're not listing it as an option. If that changes we'll update this page. Racquet sports where the public position is much healthier are covered in our Tennis courts in Bristol guide, and if squash is one activity in a bigger day, Best adult activity days out in Bristol has the rest.
The practical playbook, then. South or central: Workout Harbourside, £15 a court, book online today. North Bristol on a budget: phone BAWA and pay £8. Want a cheap-ish council option: Horfield or Kingsdown, but confirm the price before you travel, because neither operator prints it where you can see it. And if you find yourself booking a fourth week in a row, do the membership sums, because at every venue on this list the casual rate is deliberately the expensive way to play.
FAQs
How much does it cost to hire a squash court in Bristol without a membership?
From £8 for 45 minutes at BAWA in Filton up to £15 a session at Workout Harbourside on Welsh Back. Horfield Leisure Centre and ESC Kingsdown also take casual bookings but don't publish prices online; check the Everyone Active app or the Pitchbooking checkout. All figures checked against the venues' own sites in August 2026.
Where's the cheapest casual squash court in Bristol?
BAWA on Southmead Road, Filton: £8 for 45 minutes, booked by phone on 0117 976 8064 (option 3). Racquet hire is £1.50 and balls are £3.30, so two people with no kit can play for under £15 total.
Can non-members play squash at Redland Green Club?
Not on a pay-per-court basis. Redland Green (the former Bristol Lawn Tennis & Squash Club) is members-only, though it offers a free taster session before you join, and as a Community Amateur Sports Club it can reduce fees for people on low incomes. Its six heated courts are the best squash facility in the city if you do commit.
Do the universities let the public book squash courts?
Barely. UWE's four courts at Frenchay are free for Active Card members, and the public can only book as a £4 guest playing with a member. We could not find any publicly bookable University of Bristol squash court in August 2026; its squash page currently redirects to the general sport homepage.
Is squash dying out in Bristol?
Pay-per-court squash is shrinking, not squash itself. Redland Green runs 17 box leagues and 18 county teams behind its membership, and Horfield's 2025 refurbishment kept both its courts. What's changed is access: only four venues still sell court time to non-members, while the city has added more than 30 pay-by-the-hour padel courts in the same period.
Do I need to book squash courts in advance in Bristol?
Yes, everywhere. ESC Kingsdown requires at least two hours' notice online; Workout Harbourside takes bookings online or at reception; BAWA is phone-only; Horfield books through the Everyone Active app. When we checked in August 2026, next-day slots at Kingsdown were widely available, so a day's notice is normally plenty outside weekday evenings.