Al Hepworth

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Andy Hoines, who co-edits the London section of www.lidos.org.uk, has been back to the lido.

I visited the lido yesterday again on a fine sunny day, but with a slight autumnal nip in the air. I was pleasantly surprised how busy the pool was, with two demarcated lanes in full use by fitness swimmers and people of all ages happily splashing or meandering around in the rest of the pool.

The pool temperature was around 23C. Surprisingly, there are no pool covers yet, so maintaining 25C is probably now impossible given the cooler autumn weather. I also noticed that the original cafe kiosk has been retained and hopefully will do ggod business next summer. Another nice touch is that modern replacement changing cubicles have been installed on the pool sides, helping to retain the period feel and also providing useful changing and storage space.

The pool is due to close on 17 Dec and reopen sometime in Spring 2007. I feel that it should be open a couple more weeks to provide an interesting place to take some exercise over the christmas holidays. This would also provide good publicity and could also be lucrative if the success of Hampton could be replicated.

Finally, nearby London Fields mainline station has a relatively poor service, especially on Sundays. Hackney Downs has a much more frequent service and is only a 10 minute walk via Greenwood Road.

Andy