The Wild Ponds Where Londoners Have Been Swimming at Dawn for 300 Years

By / July 10, 2026

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At 6am on a November morning, the temperature in London drops close to freezing. Most of the city is still dark and quiet. But at the swimming ponds on Hampstead Heath, a queue of people is already forming at the gate — towels under their arms, breath visible in the cold air, faces entirely calm.

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