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SWIMMING
HAMP STEAD HEATH PONDS LONDON, UK
It’s not a scene you’d usually associate with one of the world’s busiest cities: coots emerging from a hidden nest to paddle across a pond; herons watching dragonflies flit across the water from the branches of a tree; swimmers doing a languid back crawl with their eyes closed. Though Hampstead Heath is only four miles north of central London, it feels several hundred miles removed. Wandering the great green expanse, ducking
in and out of copses of beech and oak, it’s hard to imagine that, just over half an hour away on the Tube, people queue to see the latest art installation at Tate Modern, tuck into seven-course tasting menus at Michelin-starred restaurants, or take their places for a groundbreaking performances at a West End theatre. That disconnect only increases at the heath’s
bathing ponds. There are 18 ponds scattered across the park, and three are open to swimmers — a mixed pond, a men’s pond and the Kenwood ladies’ pond. Originally created as freshwater reservoirs in the late 18th century, to supply London with drinking water, they’ve long been
used by bathers — though the men’s pond was not officially opened until the 1890s, and the ladies’ pond until 1926. The atmosphere hasn’t changed much since.
Each pond has a different character but shares a sense of timelessness. The ladies’ pond, enclosed by trees, feels like a secret world. Bathers, from lone octogenarians to bands of excited teenagers, slip into the water and, it seems, straight into the pages of an EM Forster novel, so bucolic is the experience. The men’s pond is more open and expansive. Diving off the concrete jetty, swimmers set off in a brisk front crawl, the sounds of laughter echoing across the water as friends bump into each on the banks. Walkers stop along the slipway at one end of the mixed pond to watch groups bobbing about or hanging off the lifebuoys to chat — watching with envy or awe, depending on the weather. Equilibrium restored, towels and swimming
costumes packed away, many choose to end their time on the heath by climbing to one of its high points and gazing down at London. On a clear day, you’ll see the spire of St Paul’s visible among the skyscrapers.
cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/ green-spaces/hampstead-heath
visitlondon.com
FROM LEFT: A wild swimming group floating in one of Hampstead Heath’s bathing ponds; summer paddling along the River Rhine, which runs through Basel’s historic Old Town
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nationalgeographic.co.uk/collection
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