Field of Dreams
| Sunday 29 October, 2006 |
Not the Lovely Lido (some heartbreaking picture action to come later in the week) but the recently re-opened London Fields Lido out in Hackney. It's a strange time of the year for a Lido to open, but they do things differently in North London. At least it is open, and rather lovely it was too.
 My head almost exploded |
London Fields is not yet officially open, but a trial period is underway for those in the know. Which judging by the large number of lane swimmers, kiddie pissers and coffin dodger doggy paddlers on Sunday afternoon, half of Hackney has had the tip off.
Having paid my three pounds entrance, I made my way down the corridor to the gents changing. It was all pristine clean and spanking new. Very nice. I put on my shreddies and after a quick shower, braved the late October temperatures and walked outdoors semi-naked in a North London park. This is apparently the norm North of the river.
The sight that greeted me is surly one of the Seven Wonders of London. An outdoor pubic space, shared by a bunch of people who have the shared aim of arseing about in a huge fuck off pool.
The restoration of London Fields owes a lot to the style of Tooting. The outdoor lockers are colour painted in a similar glorious technicolor to that of the Tooting changing rooms. The pool itself boasts 50m in length (or half a Tooting Lido) with perhaps the only criticism being the narrowness of the widths (17m.) But hey - cram 'em all in - the more the merrier.
And so what exactly was I doing swimming OUTDOORS in E8 when I could have been bathing down the road from onionbagblog HQ II at Brixton Rec?
The selling point of London Fields is that it is heated.
Much is made of Brockwell and Tooting's 'character building' water temperature, but unless you are a SLSC masochist, you can't swim in the South London outdoor pools beyond the end of September. Hackney hopes to open up London Fields all year round, with the next few months acting as a barometer for business.
Business was good, but the poolside barometer was a bit bloody cold to be honest. It took me two lengths before I was convinced that I could stay in the water without my head exploding.
The surroundings made up for the luke warm water. Trees on every side with the nearby inner city sounds silenced by the solitary experience of swimming. It felt slightly sterile and lacked the art deco appeal of Brockwell and Tooting. But the two South London beasts are often accused of being stuck in the past with 1930's toilet and shower facilities.
It will take some time for London Fields to find its feet. Or even flippers perhaps. A Lido is simply more than just the water; it's the swimmers that use the space and the interaction between them. This can only develop over time, and I suspect London Fields will offer something very different come the summer months when the sunbathing terrace is populated. Lido life is all about procrastinating rather than putting in the lengths.
With Hackney recently voted the worst place to live in the UK (how did the City of Death escape?) London Fields offers at least some light. Empty since 1988, full of life 18 years later.
A half hour cycle and I'm EXPTREMELY happy in the knowledge that I've now got a Lido available to me for twelve months of the year. Even if it means travelling to North London.
