Hampstead Heath Ponds
Summer's hottest club
If you didn't know any better, you may think there was a very exclusive club with an extremely discerning bouncer hidden in Hampstead Heath. And on a day like today, you'd almost be right. But what causes over 80 people to queue for half an hour in the dirt on a Tuesday afternoon? The answer is above us - well, all around us - in fact, it's pretty much inescapable: the heat. However, a brave few (hundred) have found a way to beat it. Their escape is the Hampstead Heath Swimming Ponds.
A short stroll from South End Green, is nestled the most popular of the Heath's three designated swimming holes - the Mixed Pond. Today, on the warmest day of the year, the ponds are teeming with people and literally, every inch of grassy towel space is at a premium. The Heath wardens are operating a strict one-in, one-out policy; there are even a few gate-crashers, leaping through nettles and over fences to make their way to the cool, murky water. Other times during the year (the Mixed Pond and its siblings, the Men's and Ladies' Ponds are unique in being the UK's only life-guarded natural bathing spaces open to the public every day of the year) the queues are not so long, but the ponds are never empty. Famously, there exists a devoted following of pond bathers who swim every day, sometimes having to break the ice to take a dip. Hampstonians and Highgaters can seem to have a religious fervour for the heath (even as a relatively recent transplant I sometimes get swept up by this) and pond swimming feels like a sort of baptism.
Still, there are others who are deeply suspicious about these pools, their limited visibility, gooey silt beds, frisky fish and even occasional drowned bodies. However, the ponds are regularly monitored by the Environmental Agency and these findings are available to anyone. Okay, hypochondriacs may not be too comforted by the infrequent spikes in E. coli colonies and -yikes- fecal matter (probably animal, don't worry) but the ponds stay well within legal safety limits. The men's ponds are actually the largest, warmest, and cleanest. The ladies' are regarded as the loveliest, with a wildflower garden and broad sunbathing knoll where clothing is optional and judgement is nonexistent. Queues in these separated ponds are also significantly shorter.
Today, the parade of people in swimming costumes, sunburns, and muddy feet salsas slowly forward, leaving watermelon rinds and sunny tunes in its wake. No one seems to mind too much waiting in the rare warmth, when the sacred grounds of Hampstead Heath become a temple of Summer, open to all who make the pilgrimage.
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