*** UPDATE March 27th 2021 - Pond reopens on March 29th. No booking initially - just turn up and pay (grrrr...). Booking from May. Opening hours on City of London's site. It's 8.5C in the water so please take it slowly initially.
*** UPDATE February 25th 2021 - Pond to reopen on March 29th
*** UPDATE January 5th 2021 - GROUNDHOG DAY - POND CLOSED AGAIN
*** UPDATE November 28th - Pond reopening from December 2nd. Opening times 0730 till 1445 (last entry 1430). Check City of London website for further updates including time changes through the winter.
*** UPDATE November 1st - Please sign the petition to keep outdoor swimming venues open in the second (November 2020) lockdown.
*** UPDATE October 11th - booking no longer required, season tickets now operational. Corporation of London's newly-imposed compulsory charges remain in operation.
*** UPDATE July 19th - As you are probably aware by now, the pond is open and running hourly slots throughout the day. After a rocky start to the new booking system it seems to be running a little smoother now. Please check the Hampstead Heath website and Twitter feed if you wish to pay to swim at the pond.
*** UPDATE July 10th - We believe an announcement from the City of London Heath Management is imminent this afternoon / evening. More information to follow when available.
If you are desperate to book a swim, please check the City's own website and twitter as they will most likely be updated before we can update this. HMPA will send a membership email as soon as we receive information from the City. We are hoping they will open the booking system this evening, with the ponds first opening possibly at the weekend (Sat 11 / Sun 12 July) or maybe early next week. At this stage this is speculation on our part. The opening hours may also be restricted initially.
Swimming page on City website: https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/hampstead-heath/activities-at-hampstead-heath/swimming-at-hampstead-heath
This links to the Active Training World booking page, which doesn't work right now (4.15pm)
City Twitter - https://twitter.com/CityCorpHeath
A tweet from this afternoon: https://twitter.com/CityCorpHeath/status/1281593554419187712
(End of Jul 10th update)
From June 25th:
We are all frustrated at the prolonged closure of the pond and we want to reassure all swimmers that we have been, and continue to liaise with the City of London regarding their reopening plan. Unfortunately the most recent government announcement about further lockdown easing on July 4th has confused matters. Lidos and indoor pools are to remain closed, despite numerous open water swimming venues around the country having been open for weeks now.
We are waiting for clarification from the Heath management on the pond's classification and whether or not they will be allowed to open up after July 4th. This will only happen if government guidance is clear that outdoor facilities can be opened. If so, then the basics of the current plan are as follows. Full details here in the link at the bottom of this page.
We appreciate that online booking may be difficult for some and that the new cost per swim (£4.00 with £2.40 for concessions) is a large amount for many swimmers, so we are raising these issues along with many others about the re-opening plan. We understand that many swimmers will be frustrated that much of this is against the long standing ethos of the ponds, so we are continuing to push against the CoL regarding enforced and increased charges and we're standing jointly with the Kenwood Ladies Pond and Mixed Pond association on this issue.
We encourage members to get involved by emailing or tweeting the Heath management and joining the campaign to encourage the government to re-open pools, lidos, and the ponds.
You can read more about Swim England's campaign and their suggestions here.
Hampstead Heath official Twitter here: https://twitter.com/CityCorpHeath
Hampstead Heath email: hampstead.heath@cityoflondon.gov.uk
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