London Fields Lido
By Deborah, People’s Pool Founder
Where: Hackney, London
The pool: 50m, heated, year-round
London Fields was the first lido where I tried winter swimming. I say winter – it was October, but it was cold enough. There was something thrilling about the dash from the changing rooms to the pool, before the sweet relief of sliding into the heated water. Seeing raindrops bouncing off the surface in close-up was absolutely beautiful, and autumn leaves were floating in the corners.
The joy of swimming in a heated lido in cold weather is that you feel like you’ve done something daring – braved the elements – even if, like me, you’ve yet to get the bug for swimming in properly cold water. There’s an extra endorphin boost and a sense of having risen to a challenge that adds to the post-swim glow.
London Fields is a serious swimming pool. It always has lane swimming, though it also has a paved sunbathing area that’s popular in summer. There are lanes for all speeds, from the focussed and wetsuited tri-trainer to the chatty groups at the other extreme, so whatever your pace and style you’ll fit in.
It seems such a fixture on the lido circuit now that it’s hard to believe London Fields was derelict just a few years ago. The Lido first opened in 1932 and remained open until the war, reopening in 1951, the year of the Festival of Britain. Sadly it followed the all-too-familiar journey of so many of our outdoor pools and in 1988, after several years of severe cuts to council funding, it was closed.
Mercifully, it also followed the familiar lido story of a group of passionate community activists lobbying hard to save their pool. But not without a long fight. It took many years of devoted campaigning and direct action before the Lido finally reopened in 2007.
It was an instant hit and quickly built a devoted community of users. Since it reopened, London Fields has been a year-round pool and now, thanks to floodlighting installed in 2014, it’s open 6.30am to 9pm throughout the year.
