Fourteen women, from various ages and ethnicities, reminisced their time swimming at Kenwood Ladies' Bathing Pond. Their memories are divided into four seasons, starting from winter to autumn. Each woman has their own experience with the Pond, but they all can agree that the Pond is their second home. If a sense of belonging is a book, then At the Pond: Swimming at the Hampstead Ladies' Pond fits the description. Every essay describes how each woman feels welcomed; as if they're part of something--that they belong, no matter what time of the year or where you came from. Here, in the Pond, they can forget a bit about their mundane life and just existing. And that's powerful enough to me (note that I'm quite jealous since there's no pond or river to go wild swimming near me).

This is covered by So Mayer, who describes her discomfort at being assigned female in a piece of writing that bobs between Gerard Manley Hopkins, Dido Elizabeth Belle, ancient myths and gender essentialism. For her, the Pond has become a torture; for others, it is paradise. A seven-foot snake and giant carp This is an excellent question and worth asking! Despite the murky appearance of the ponds, all three ponds are safe to swim in. The water has been tested to ensure its safety.Hampstead Heath Swimming Ponds are an institution in the village of Hampstead and it feels like it’s all about wild outdoor swimming at the moment, so there is no better place to visit for wild swimming in London than the Hampstead ponds! The water can be extremely cold, even in the autumnal months, so only venture in if you’re a confident swimmer. All three ponds share the same rules and regulations about etiquette and entry for children and have very similar facilities. However, the additional rule of Kenwood Ladies pond is that this pond is for ladies only – who would’ve guessed it? Things You Need to Know Before Visiting the Ponds in Hampstead 1. Book During Summer, and Visit on a Weekday/Early Morning If you can, I recommend going on a weekday over going on a weekend, and going earlier in the morning, especially if you can only go on the weekend. This is the Hampstead Heath Mixed Pond! 4. Sunbathe outside the Ponds!

Know your limits and leave the water if you don’t feel well or if you are advised to by the lifeguards. One of my favourite elements of this collection was the way in which it spans every season; indeed, it is split into four sections, which denote each season. Swimming is something which I always love reading about - and doing, although I must admit that I am more of a fair weather woman - and to be able to view the same place in so many different weathers was wonderful. I shivered slightly when a couple of the authors wrote about the lifeguards having to break the surface ice during the winter, and the way in which around 150 hardy women still decide to swim regularly during the season. In one thrilling story, Nell Frizzell gives an insight into being a lifeguard at the Pond, letting civilians see into the secret sisterhood of life-saving naiads. The strangest thing her colleague had ever found there? “A seven-foot reticulated python about three feet from the upper meadow”. It will stay in my mind for ever, as will Moggach’s throwaway line about the fish that live in the mixed pond nearby: “The water almost boils with giant carp, their lips gaping open like sex dolls.” A grass snake at Hampstead Heath – not quite as big as the one spotted by a lifeguard near the Ladies’ Pond (Photo: Carl Court/Getty Images)There is something enthralling about underground rivers, even when they have been tamed and flow through manmade pipes. We like to think of the watery world hidden beneath us. They are boxed in and have gone under, writes the poet UA Fanthorpe, but they “return spectrally after heavy rain” to confound suburban gardens, deluge cellars, and detonate manholes. The landscape is alive, and the rivers at times resurgent. nii et päris peadpööritav paradigmamuutus oli kolida Londonisse ja avastada, et looduslikes veekogudes ujumine on brittide jaoks nii eksootiline kontseptsioon, et selle jaoks kasutatakse isegi eraldi väljendit: wild swimming. ja kui nüüd vaatama hakata, siis kust neid veekogusid võttagi. nojah, tehniliselt võttes elame saarel ja meri ei ole kunagi kaugemal kui 70 miili. praktiliselt võttes, kui mitu korda olen spetsiaalselt sõitnud mereranda ja avastanud, et ei mingit ujumist, sest mõõn. (ja üldse, mis ujumine see meres ujumine ka on.) mingid suplemiseks sobivad jõekäärud (vesi: puusani, kui mitte ainult põlvini) olen aastatega ka avastanud, järved on pigem kõik eraomanduses ja ligipääsmatud (või asuvad Lake Districtis, 300 miili kaugusel), veehoidlates ujumine rangelt keelatud. There was something magical about the unplumbed depths, the moorhens, the waterlilies, the willows, the floating rings and rafts’: Margaret Drabble. Photograph: Alice Zoo/The Observer This book of essays is something to hold on to and re-read when we cannot be there in person. Pure joy.' - Financial Times