Writer and digital producer
And just like that, summer’s here. There are various indicators. Waking up with the bedclothes kicked off. Coming downstairs and the first thing you do being to open the garden door and leaving it open. Sandals rather than trainers. And, in the case of the Lido, rinsing off under the unheated shower. It’s going Continue reading Lido Letter 85
There is a day, every swimming season, when the Lido transforms from something calm and relatively austere into something more frantic. People are mainly to blame, of course, as they emerge into the warming temperatures of May and ponder an early dip. Today is that day. The lanes are very crowded indeed, because of people Continue reading Lido Letter 84
And to think I nearly didn’t go. I’ve never been a morning person. I have friends who can sleep for six hours a night and get up at mythical hours like 5am and function perfectly well. If I don’t get at least eight hours I’m thinking through soup all day. And getting up in the Continue reading Lido Letter 83
It’s a beautiful sunny day with a bite in the air, the breeze coming from somewhere cold and brooding. Overflowing litter bins are what remains of a warm Spring weekend in the Park. The Lido is quietly businesslike, the water enticing but also threatening. Stay in here too long and regret it for the rest Continue reading Lido Letter 82
Truth be told, writing this is going to be hard. My hands are freezing and my core temperature seems to have dropped through the floor. It’s a warning. The air temperature is maybe five degrees lower than yesterday and I spent two lengths longer in the pool. The result of this complex equation: stiff little Continue reading Lido Letter 81
It’s the earliest swim so far this year. The park is nearly empty and even the dogs look a little bleary. The Lido itself is just as quiet, and the swimmers have a businesslike air. I wonder how many are City workers and what their day is likely to hold. The water is clear, shining, Continue reading Lido Letter 80
There is a blissful period from about this point in April until the end of May when the Lido enters its Goldilocks zone. The water is warm enough for a proper gloveless swim in crystal waters but cold enough to keep the crowds away. The air outside is the same warm but with a Continue reading Lido Letter 79
The last time I visited the Lido the water was below eight degrees, the air was below 10, the sun was out and there were relatively few people about. Today, nearly a month later, those measures have changed to 13 degrees, 20 degrees, sun, and ‘absolutely packed with young folk sunning themselves’. On top of Continue reading Lido Letter 78
It’s the warmest day of the year so far and the Park is full of joggers shouting to each other and young families with buggies the size of Range Rovers. The tennis courts are packed with little kids holding tennis rackets as tall as they are. I have a head full of last night’s red Continue reading Lido Letter 77
Bless me mother for I have sinned. It has been 10 weeks since my last immersion. A dreary combination of illness, idleness, atmospheric pressure, work, and endless excuse generation has kept me out of the water. So now I must do it again go in cold, literally. The day is glorious after a week Continue reading Lido Letter 76