Racquet Club 24

Racquet Club 24 sits opposite Dunmail Park retail centre at Dunmail Park West, Workington CA14 1NH. The site is one mile from the A66 and directly on the A596 corridor that links the West Cumbrian coast from Maryport down to Whitehaven.

The £3.8 million centre opened as Cumbria’s first dedicated padel facility, built inside a converted retail unit by local businessman Bill Dixon, whose family runs the neighbouring Dunmail Park retail park. It has grown from its original four courts to nine indoor panoramic padel courts in continuous bookable rotation.

The venue uses automated entry and lighting controlled through a mobile app, which is why the brand carries the “24” suffix. Members and casual players can book and play around the clock without on-site reception cover.

The padel courts

The nine padel courts are super-panoramic, double-glass models supplied through turnkey specialist Gimpadel and shipped in from Spain during the original build. Each court runs 20 metres by 10 metres to World Padel Tour specification.

A high indoor roof clearance keeps lob play clean, and the synthetic turf surface is infilled with quartz sand for consistent bounce. LED lighting is zoned per court and switches on through the booking system when a slot is confirmed, so courts are only lit when in use.

The full nine-court footprint puts Racquet Club 24 among the larger indoor padel venues in northern England, comfortably ahead of most regional clubs that operate only three or four courts. The scale also matters for tournaments, where the venue can run a full bracket without disrupting general play.

Booking and Access

All court bookings run through Playtomic, which handles availability, payment, partner matching and skill-level invitations. Slots are sold in 60 and 90-minute blocks and the booking window opens up to two weeks ahead.

Because the building is unmanned outside coaching hours, access is granted through a one-time code released to the booking lead shortly before their slot. Live padel court rates show at the checkout step on Playtomic and vary between off-peak weekday daytime and peak evening or weekend windows.

Racket and ball hire is available on-site for first-time players, and free parking is provided in the Dunmail Park West car park directly outside the unit. Changing rooms and showers are open during staffed hours, and the venue contact form sits on racquetclub24.com for enquiries about group bookings or corporate hire.

Programme and Social

Coaching and structured social play sit at the centre of the venue’s growth plan. Group padel sessions for beginners and improvers run on weekday evenings and weekend mornings, with one-to-one lessons bookable on request through the club.

American tournaments, mix-in nights and ladder leagues are scheduled through the Playtomic app and run across multiple courts at a time so spaces fill quickly. Racquet Club 24 publishes weekly events through its Facebook community and the Instagram channel @racquetclubcumbria.

Junior coaching has been added as demand has grown and Cumbria’s first padel community has settled in. Coaches keep formats varied so that beginners, intermediate club players and improvers all get a slot that suits their level each week.

Best For

Racquet Club 24 suits players across West Cumbria, from Workington and Whitehaven to Cockermouth, Maryport and the wider Lake District fringe, who want guaranteed indoor padel play in a region with no rival venue inside an hour’s drive.

The 24-hour access model is a strong fit for shift workers from the nearby Sellafield catchment, and for early-morning or late-night players who can’t commit to a fixed evening slot. The nine-court scale lets group bookings, corporate events and tournaments run without squeezing out general play.

Beginners get a low-pressure environment to learn through structured coaching before joining open mix-ins. The Google rating is currently 4.5 stars and the venue is verified through Google Business Profile, with steady review volume as the local padel scene continues to expand.

Racquet Club 24 runs group padel coaching for beginners and improvers on weekday evenings and weekend mornings, plus one-to-one sessions on request. Junior coaching has been added as the Cumbrian padel community has grown. Sessions are bookable through Playtomic or the venue contact form at racquetclub24.com/contact.