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  1. Books
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5.0(2)

At the Pond : Swimming at the Hampstead Ladies' Pond

Tucked away along a shady path towards the north-east edge of Hampstead Heath is a sign: Women Only. This is the Kenwood Ladies' Bathing Pond.

Floating in the Pond's silky waters, hidden by a canopy of trees, it's easy to forget that you are in the middle of London. On a hot day, thousands of swimmers from eight to eighty-plus can be found waiting to take a dip before sunbathing in the adjoining meadow. As summer turns to autumn and then winter, the Pond is still visited by a large number of hardy regulars in high-vis hats, many of whom have been swimming here for decades.

In these essays we see the Pond from the perspectives of writers who have swum there. Esther Freud describes the life-affirming sensation of swimming through the seasons; Lou Stoppard pays tribute to the winter swimmers who break the ice; Margaret Drabble reflects on the golden Hampstead days of her youth; Sharlene Teo visits for the first time; and Nell Frizzell shares the view from her yellow lifeguard's canoe.

Combining personal reminiscence with reflections on the history of the place over the years and through the changing seasons,At the Pond captures fourteen contemporary writers' impressions of this unique place.


Authors:

  • Jessica J. Lee
  • Amy Key
  • So Mayer
  • Sophie Mackintosh
  • Ava Wong Davies
  • Nina Mingya Powles
  • Deborah Moggach
  • Sharlene Teo
  • Leanne Shapton
  • Esther Freud
  • Margaret Drabble
  • Eli Goldstone
  • Nell Frizzell

Format:

  • E-book

Duration:

  • 79 pages

Language:

English

Categories:

  • Essays and reportage
  • Essays
  • Hobby and sports
  • Sports and the outdoors

More by Jessica J. Lee

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    Sharlene Teo

    Sharlene Teo is a Singaporean writer based in the UK. She is the winner of the inaugural Deborah Rogers Writers’ Award for Ponti, her first novel. Her writing has appeared in publications such as Esquire UK, Magma Poetry, and Eunoia Review. She is the recipient of the 2013 David T.K. Wong Creative Writing Fellowship and the 2014 Sozopol Fiction Fellowship.

    Read more

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