A Dip in the Pond

The Ponds

The hottest August bank holiday on record: we cool ourselves in Hampstead Heath’s men's only ponds.

The grass fills up with beautiful creatures of all shapes and sizes. Laughter, air kisses, speedos, nudity, picnics, dogs, ice creams, even a snake wrapped around a tight torso.

Posters announce: shooting for the documentary, “The Ponds”, is taking place. Let the director know if you’d rather not feature in it.

I see him scan the crowd with his cameraman. “He’s going to come over”, I think to myself. A minute later, a polite silver fox leans down and smiles: “can I speak to you?”