SWIMMING PONDS

the mixed pond

The only swimming pond on the Hampstead side of the Heath, near to Hampstead Heath overground station.

Only lifeguarded - and only open to the public - outside of the winter season.

Check the City of London website for the most up to date information and to book.

the ladies’ & men’s ponds

Both on the Highgate side of the Heath. Lifeguarded and open year round.

Booking required for many slots in the summer season. Check the City of London website for the most up to date information and for booking.

If you’re not used to swimming in cold water, read about cold water habituation here.

As ever, you can find the most up to date information on the same page on the City of London’s website, or via @CityCorpHeath on Twitter.

Ponds on film.

The Ponds is a feature-length documentary released in January 2019 about the hardy locals who swim in these waters every day. The film crew spent a whole year with them, and the result is a touching portrait of the swimmers and the raw joy, and the therapy, that comes from their daily dips. You can find our more about the film, including where you can see it, on the film’s website here. During the Coronavirus period, you can watch the film from home thanks to the Curzon Home Cinema. This is what the BBC had to say about it:

Winter Nymphs,
1931 - 2016

In 1931 British Pathé filmed a newsreel at Hampstead Ladies’ Pond of the ‘Winter Nymphs’. It was the middle of winter, 34°F (1°C) in the air and not much warmer in the water.

In January 2016, 85 years later, a group of the regular swimmers filmed their own.

Here they are, one after the other. The 1931 film sadly has no sound, but be sure to turn up the volume for the 2016 Water Nymphs or you’ll miss out on their singing.

more clips & films

Many more films have been made about the ponds and their swimmers over the years, too many to list here. These are the best of the rest:

• The Men’s Ponds in the 1930s or 40s.

• Another recent winter swimming documentary (a short one, in this case).

• Ice skating and sledging on Whitestone Pond in the freezing winter of 1965-66.

• A 15 minute, soundless film about the Heath from British Pathé, shot in 1971. It’s uneventful, but if you have any curiosity about life as a hobby fisherman on the Heath in 1971, skip to the 7th minute.