The Manchester Fencing Centre in Oldham is producing national champions.
One of the largest in the country, the centre is tucked away inside Chadderton’s Osborne Mill.
The facilities are kitted out specifically for fencing – which draws athletes from across the country.
The facilities even include a cafe, providing a warm space for parents and others to wait while their children train.
Mike Swiffin runs the centre – which provides sessions for three types of fencing: Foil, Sabre, and Épée three days a week.
The centre is purpose-built, with electronic scoring and scoreboards. It can even be hired out for competitions.
Living in Glossop, Mike travels to the Chadderton centre each day.
We visited on a Wednesday, ahead of the Sabre and Épée sessions.
Opening the centre in 2017, Mike aims to widen the sport of fencing beyond its traditional demographics.
A keen fencer himself, Mike doesn’t just help train medal winners – he won a silver medal in the over-40s, or ‘Veteran’, age group at 2022’s Commonwealth Fencing Championships.
The 48-year-old said: “What we’re trying to do here is set the centre up in an area that’s not got money.
"Fencing has always been seen as a posh boy sport. What we’re trying to do is take that away and say ‘anyone can fence’.
“It’s a bit Ratatouille, you know in the film ‘anyone can cook’.”
As part of his mission, Mike wanted to remove barriers to entry.
He continued: “We teach anybody who wants to try it. We’ll provide the kit, we’ll provide the tuition – for under-13s it’s £6 a session, and that includes the kit hire, insurance, and everything that goes with it, as well as the tuition.
“We’re making it accessible to whoever wants to have a go. It’s the largest purpose-built fencing centre in the country.
“We’ve got currently four British champions in the age groups – under 14, under 16, and under 18 champions.
“We just came back from the Commonwealth Fencing Championships with 11 medals.
“We train athletes here.”
Fencing has always been seen as a posh boy sport. What we’re trying to do is take that away and say ‘anyone can fence’.
Training champions
One such champion is Zach Woodward, 17, who achieved a gold medal for England in the Cadet Men’s Sabre Team event at the Commonwealth Fencing Championships.
The Championships saw 27 countries compete in London.
Since its removal from the main program of the Commonwealth Games in 1970, the Commonwealth Fencing Championships, which is officially recognised by the Commonwealth Games, has been held every four years, taking place in the same year as the Commonwealth Games.
Zach, who has been training at the Manchester Fencing Centre since he was 10 years old, also became the male under-18 Sabre British Champion, at the British Youth Championships held in Sheffield last year.
From Royton, Zach got into fencing after trying it out on a family holiday.
Zach said: “I did it when I was on holiday at Center Parcs as a taster session, and then I came home and looked for a club because I enjoyed it.”
He now trains at the centre three times a week and has just moved up from the Cadet age group, for under-17s, into the Junior age group, for under-20s.
He continued: “This first year I’m just getting into it, and hopefully in the next couple of years I can progress in the age group and hopefully become champion in that one, and do well internationally too.”
Zach is taking a year off from the sport this year for A-levels – studying biology, chemistry, and maths – but is hoping to continue competing internationally next year in Poland, Romania, and at the European Championships.
When asked whether he is aiming for the Olympics, Zach was quick to respond: “Ideally, yeah 2024."
A moment later, he added, “maybe not 2024… 2028.”
It’s not just men finding success at the centre – 17-year-old Bethany Brierley, from Chadderton, won gold in the under-18 girls sabre event at the British Youth championships.
She got into the sport after her sister started fencing at school.
Winning her first British title aged 12, she added: “I was just asked one day if I wanted to do it, so I just did it and I’ve never stopped.”
Despite being a male-dominated sport, Beth has found success, saying: “Compared to male fencing there’s less people to compete with, which is quite difficult.
"There’s less girls to train with so I have to try and train with the boys which can be difficult.”
Not everyone who trains at The Manchester Fencing Centre lives on its doorstep – some travel from further afield.
One such fencer is 16-year-old Alex Lister who lives in Triangle, West Yorkshire.
Also a champion, Alex won gold in both the under-16s Sabre event at the British Youth Championships and the under-17s Cadet Sabre event at the British Championships.
Starting out fencing using plastic foils at just five years old, Alex makes the 17-mile journey from his home to Chadderton three times a week to train.
Alex said: “There’s not very many fencing clubs around in the UK, this is one of the best fencing clubs in the country.”
He has no plans on slowing down, either, saying: “I’m going to a European fencing competition in Bucharest at the end of this month, and I have qualified for the European Championships in Tallinn this February – one of two who’s qualified so far, but no one’s been selected yet.”
First winning competitions aged nine, Alex has loved the sport ever since – in part due to its tight-knit community.
Alex continued: “It’s very fast-paced, and you’ve really got to think about what you’re doing on the piste, which is very stimulating.”
Asked about the Olympics, Alex was more coy than some of his fellow fencers, saying: “The Olympics is very, very hard to qualify for in Europe but anything’s possible.”
‘Tight-knit community’
You won’t just find fencers inside the fencing centre.
A cafe serves as a spot for the rest of the community, including parents and friends, to relax while the athletes train.
Susi Walmsley, from Cheadle, visits the centre three times a week with her children from 6pm until 9.15pm – helping out on reception and the cafe when she’s there.
Susi’s children became hooked on fencing after watching Star Wars and playing with lightsabers.
Susi explained why travelling 15 miles from Cheadle to Chadderton to fence is worth it: “Everything in this building is set up for fencing. If you were just to go to a normal club, they would mark it out on the floor, it would just be a sports hall.
“We’ve got the boxes to keep the score, the wires, which detect and keep score, are already in situ, they don’t have to stick anything down.
“It’s the largest fencing centre in the country, it’s a really good centre for the kids and everyone’s really friendly and happy. Once they get into it they just go, you don’t need to do anything.”
More information about The Manchester Fencing Centre can be found on its website.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here