Across the pond5/16/2023 ![]() ![]() The three ponds are not to be confused with Parliament Hill Lido, built in 1938, now with a stainless steel lining. Quality of water tests - which comply with EU regulations - are routinely performed on all three swimming ponds. The men's pond had a diving tower, but this was dismantled following an accident in the 1970s and only a low level board remains, along with showers and a small sunbathing and changing area. Winter swimming is sometimes available at the ponds, which remain popular with users. Only swimmers over eight years of age are allowed those between eight and 15 years old must be in the care of an adult. Hampstead has three different ponds for swimming: one for men, one for women and one mixed. Hampstead Heath's Men's bathing pond (Highgate no. However, historical drawings and paintings of the area show no mound other than a 17th-century windmill. "Boudicca's Mound", near the present men's bathing pond, is a tumulus where, according to local legend, Queen Boudicca (Boadicea) was buried after she and 10,000 Iceni warriors were defeated at Battle Bridge. The ponds are the result of the 1777 damming of Hampstead Brook (one of the Fleet River's sources), by the Hampstead Water Company, which was formed in 1692 to meet London's growing water demands. ![]() Angling is allowed in some of the ponds, although this may be threatened by proposals to modify the dams. They include two single-sex swimming pools (the men's and ladies' bathing ponds), a model boating pond, and two ponds which serve as wildlife reserves: the Stock Pond and the Bird Sanctuary Pond. Highgate Ponds are a series of eight former reservoirs, on the heath's east (Highgate) side, and were originally dug in the 17th and 18th centuries. 1 pond is a nature reserve pond on Hampstead Heath. The City of London Corporation tried to close the bathing ponds in 2004, but a challenge at the High Court by swimmers overcame this, though charges for swimming were introduced. A number of the other ponds are set aside as wildlife reserves or are purely ornamental (such as the more minor Viaduct Pond). 3 pond is the Model Boating Pond and it, along with a few other ponds, are open to anglers. The bathing ponds are not the only special-use ponds, however: Highgate no. 5 female) and one for mixed bathing (Hampstead no. Three of the main ponds are now large freshwater bathing/swimming ponds: two designated single sex (Highgate no. The majority of the ponds on Hampstead Heath are fed by the headwater springs of the River Fleet. 1 pond and the northernmost being Highgate no. Both sets of ponds are officially numbered incrementally from South to North, the southernmost pond being Hampstead no. These are divided into two groups: the three Hampstead Ponds (West Heath Side) and the eight Highgate Ponds (East Heath Side). The main ponds were originally dug in the 17th and 18th centuries as reservoirs to meet London's growing water demand. Hampstead Heath Ponds are a series of some thirty bodies of water on or adjacent to Hampstead Heath, a vast open area of woodland and grassland in north London. ![]()
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