At the Pond: Swimming at the Hampstead Ladies' Pool (Daunt Books, 2019)

Photo from CultureFly.co.uk 

 

I found this small volume of 14 essays utterly intriguing. 

Hampstead Heath in London contains three swimming ponds (and others for angling, model-boating etc; created when the Fleet River was damned in the 17th and 18th centuries as reservoirs for water supply to Hampstead and Highgate). The swimming ponds are one for women, one for men and one mixed. 

The writers who contributed include some well-knon, Like Margaret Drabble and Esther Freud, some not so well-known. It is divided into 4 sections, Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn. Some swim year-round, some are summer-only. 

The Pond as it is known is legendary amongst certain Londoners. It is "wild swimming" in a huge city ... many describe the wildlife and the vegetation...moorhens, ducks, snakes, reeds and grasses etc. The temperature is never what I would call warm, and in winter there can be ice, and of course snow on the ground. There seems to be several hundred hearty souls who do swim year round. However, there also seems to be a sort of reverence, an elitist aura around them. One writer says "they know the lifeguards". 

Also intriguing are some of the "rules" and customs ... eg there can only be a certain ratio of swimmers to lifeguards, so on a hot summer's day you may have to wait to drop in down the metal railing. Imagine trying to impose that at one of Sydney's (un-lifeguarded) ocean pools!) 

Hampstead and Highgate are high-end London suburbs, nowadays often populated by the very wealthy, though they weren't always - they were arty and bohemian in the past. 

I couldn't help comparing the Pond's mores with those at Sydney's McIvers Baths - the Ladies' Pool at Coogee. Some seem similar - the older coterie of "gatekeepers", sticking within your own groups, the basic changerooms, topless sunbaking, but the convivility in the water, and the style of swimming seems a little more open at McIvers. As well, apart from a couple of essayists with southeast Asian heritage, there is know mention of it as a refuge for diverse cultural groups like Muslim women or nuns or others who want to swim in a women-only environment. 

There was a major controversy a couple of years ago, when the London Corporation, which manages the Pond said it was ok for transitioning or transitioned male to female Transgender users to officially use the pool (they had been anyway), with backlash from some. That seems to have settled down now. 

It probably helps to be a swimmer to enjoy the book, but I think it's also interesting in broader cultural terms as a slice of London life.

Here's the page of the Kenwood Ladies Pond Association, a voluntary group of women which cares about the Pond. There's new and info about current campaigns. There is a video called "City Swimmers" in the Gallery.

A story about closure due to sewerage leaks, and a protest against compulsory charges.

Here's some reviews of the book: 

By Natalie Xenos - click here.

By Rebecca Armstrong - click here.

You can easily search for more online. 

Swimming in Turkey July - August 1989

Unlike Byron, I have never swum the Hellespont (and am not likely to!) - nor for that matter from the Lido in Venice and all the way up the Grand Canal.  The Hellespont is the narrow channel known now as the Dardanelles, the narrow channel connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara.

On swimming the Hellespont, on May 3, 1810, Byron wrote:

                                           'I plume myself on this achievement more than I could possibly do any kind of glory, political, poetical or rhetorical.'

I have however, swum in a number of places in Turkey, and here they are.

The BLACK SEA at TERME
20 July 1989

Looks a bit dull, but the water was fantastic and we enjoyed the swim. Really nice body surfing waves.

 



AKDAMAR ISLAND in LAKE VAN, Eastern Turkey
28 July 1989

"The origin and meaning of the island's name is unknown, but is often attributed to an old Armenian legend. According to the tale, an Armenian princess named Tamar lived on the island and was in love with a commoner. This boy would swim from the mainland to the island each night, guided by a light she lit for him. Her father learned of the boy's visits. One night, as she waited for her lover to arrive, he smashed her light, leaving the boy in the middle of the lake without a guide to indicate which direction to swim. They say his dying cries of "Akh, Tamar" (Oh, Tamar) can be heard to this day at night." (Wikipedia)

So the origin of its name may lie in swimming.

On the road from KÂHTA to MT NEMRUT
30 July 1989

A very welcome stop at a restaurant  / camping site on a  long and dusty trip to Mount Nemrut. Not sure of its name but it could be Damlacık

 

KAYA CAMPING,  GÖREME, CAPPADODOCIA
2 August 1989

A lazy day, poolside. Aaaaaaaaaaaah.

SIDE
4 August 1989

After weeks inland, our first sight of the Mediterranean was at Side, where we rushed into the beautiful water and enjoyed a swim in the sea.

 

BELDIBI  on the MEDITERRANEAN with the TAURUS MOUNTAINS in the background.

4 August 1989

A pebbly shore, backed by sand, right at our campsite. Beautiful swimming in calm, crystal clear, warm Mediterranean waters.

Beach between Beldibi and Demre (Myra)
5 August 1989

I don't know the name of this beach, but it was beautiful.  Entrance was 500 Turkish Lire, but that bought a deck chair. That gorgeous, crystal clear water again.

KAPUTAŞ between Kaş and Kalkan - BLUE COVE
6 August 1989

The most exquisite beach. The road crosses a mountain gorge. Below the bridge is this beautiful cove, reached by stairs from the road.

PAMUKKALE ('Cotton Castle')
7 August 1989

Not really swimming, though people used to.  Due to drought, there was not much water in this area of hot springs and travertine terraces. The ancient city of Hierapolis was founded in the 2nd century BC as a thermal spa. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Area, and you can no longer walk over it any more like we did, nor immerse yourself in the waters.

I am glad; when we visited, they were a very big disappointment - littered with cigarette butts and a grey, dirty site. Now, apparently , they have returned to their pristine, gleaming white natural state. The terraces are formed from calcium bicarbonate carried in the spring water.

PAMUKKALE - Swimming in the ancient SACRED POOL
7 August 1989

In the grounds of what was the Pamukkale Motel (now a thermal centre) is the ancient Sacred Pool, warmed by hot springs and littered with underwater fragments of ancient marble columns. It is possibly associated with the Temple of Apollo. It was amazing swimmign around over anceinet ruins! During the Roman period, columned porticoes surrounded the pool; earthquakes toppled them into the water where they now lie.

This is where the spring that feeds the mineral pools of Pamukkale originates.

Seary's Creek near Rainbow Beach

Seary's Creek is fed by a spring in the Great Sandy National Park. The water is quite cool, but not too bad for a hardy "southener" like me!

Above: When you created ripples on the surface, it appeared as if the bank was collapsing into the creek.

Above: The water is stained with tannin from tea-trees. The effect of the light on the sandy bottom through the water made it appear as if the roots of the tree were ablaze.

Seary's Creek is located near Rainbow Beach in southeast Queensland:

Eli Creek, Fraser Island 24 Jan 2011

Eli Creek is the largest creek on the eastern beach side of Fraser Island. It discharges up to 4 million litres of clear, fresh water into the ocean every hour.

Floating down this shallow, but quite swift flowing creek was a whole heap of fun!

Lake McKenzie, Fraser Island, Queensland 25 Jan 2011

Lake McKenzie is a sublime place to swim. And on the day we were there, we were the only group (14 people!). The lake is a "perched lake", meaning it is located above the water table. It is fed ONLY by rain water, and the only way water can exit is through evaporation. A layer of bonded mud, sand and vegetation (peat) called "humate" acts like a huge swimming pool liner, keeping the water inside.

Because the water is pure, swimmers are asked not to wear sunscreen or oils or use soap and shampoos when swimming. Car camping has been banned by the lake, which has cut down on the amount of litter and water contamination which previously occurred there.

The water temp was approximately 23 degrees - perfect!

Fraser Island has about 40 perched lakes.

Here are my photos of swimming in the lake previously - on 24 Jan 2001

Above: This looks to be an accumulation of oils