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Brave and Bold: 100 years of the Ladies’ Pond on Hampstead Heath
A hundred years. Thousands of women. One extraordinary pond.
I have learned about peacocks and terrapins, giant cobras and booming widgeons; I have heard about celebrity spottings and al-fresco lovemaking and digestive biscuits. These things make up the history of the Ladies’ Pond, but they also give us an insight into a hundred years of women’s lives.
From code breakers to cake bakers, I have learned that there is no such thing as a ‘normal woman’; and over the last hundred years the Pond has played host to thousands of remarkable people.
For a century, the Ladies’ Pond on Hampstead Heath has welcomed women from every walk of artists and activists, swimmers and sunbathers, friends and free spirits. As Britain’s most famous female open-air swimming spot, a pocket of wildness tucked away in the middle of the city, it has long attracted adventurous swimmers from all over the UK and the wider world.
Brave and Bold celebrates one hundred years of this beloved London landmark through the rhythm of a single swimming year, from frozen Januarys to sun-drenched midsummers; through friendships, feminist activism and the exhilaration of open water.
Created in colloboration with the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond Association and rich with previously unseen archive material and new interviews – from Dolly Alderton and Amy Liptrot to lifelong swimmers of every era – this is far more than the story of one pond. It’s a story of community, women and wild water across a century of social and political change, from suffragettes to soap stars, war to liberation, and shared flasks of tea to acts of quiet rebellion.
Brave and Bold is both a love letter to Hampstead Heath and to every woman who has ever felt most at home bobbing about in open water.
I have learned about peacocks and terrapins, giant cobras and booming widgeons; I have heard about celebrity spottings and al-fresco lovemaking and digestive biscuits. These things make up the history of the Ladies’ Pond, but they also give us an insight into a hundred years of women’s lives.
From code breakers to cake bakers, I have learned that there is no such thing as a ‘normal woman’; and over the last hundred years the Pond has played host to thousands of remarkable people.
For a century, the Ladies’ Pond on Hampstead Heath has welcomed women from every walk of artists and activists, swimmers and sunbathers, friends and free spirits. As Britain’s most famous female open-air swimming spot, a pocket of wildness tucked away in the middle of the city, it has long attracted adventurous swimmers from all over the UK and the wider world.
Brave and Bold celebrates one hundred years of this beloved London landmark through the rhythm of a single swimming year, from frozen Januarys to sun-drenched midsummers; through friendships, feminist activism and the exhilaration of open water.
Created in colloboration with the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond Association and rich with previously unseen archive material and new interviews – from Dolly Alderton and Amy Liptrot to lifelong swimmers of every era – this is far more than the story of one pond. It’s a story of community, women and wild water across a century of social and political change, from suffragettes to soap stars, war to liberation, and shared flasks of tea to acts of quiet rebellion.
Brave and Bold is both a love letter to Hampstead Heath and to every woman who has ever felt most at home bobbing about in open water.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 7, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 13, 2026
A wonderful book and the probably the main reason I started swimming in the ladies pond!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A Paean to Kenwood Ladies Pond and so much more
I’m not quite sure how wide a readership Nell Frizzell’s playful, soulful, deep weaving account of many things will draw to itself, as the ostensible subject matter is so intensely local to one particular swimming community, but it certainly deserves a wider audience, if you have an interest in connecting with the natural world, a history of feminism, seasonal ceremonies, history, particularly around movements for social change, and the general, wonderful quirkiness of humanity.
I’m slap bang centre of its target audience, as I’ve been a devotee of the pond for some decades, and, at least till Covid struck us all, and then charging and booking happened, a year round swimmer. But, for anyone who has ever found delight, however briefly or infrequently in its waters, this should be a moving, joyous, celebratory and thought provoking read.
Frizzell has chosen a splendid and perfect way to approach an enclosed space of muddy water, available to women and girls, surrounded by trees, accessible via a gravelly, occasionally water logged, potholed footpath from Hampstead Heath. The Heath itself, with its many off paved surfaces, is something of a miracle and enchantment in a Capital city, but Kenwood Ladies Pond is surely the jewel of all unlikely jewels in its crown. Frizzell has eschewed a linear approach. Instead, she’s managed some kind of magical weaving of a web, structured around particular ‘events’ and celebrations which mark days throughout the year, which might have pagan or other resonance, or be days when there are particular happenings at the pond.
Through this route, she seamlessly dives, surfaces, swims through and explores ripples of subject matter, conversations with people who hold the history and nature of the pond, both personally and in the wider collective. The tone of the book is never dry, often hilarious, and easily tugging at the heart, with moments of uplift and recognition. The whole book feels like the most natural, rambling and gloriously connected conversations which might happen with a group of dear friends, who are all happily together giving space for whatever might be to be heard and said.
Mistressfull! . As are the glorious line drawings by Becca Thorne. What a lucky me to be offered a digital ARC.
I’m not quite sure how wide a readership Nell Frizzell’s playful, soulful, deep weaving account of many things will draw to itself, as the ostensible subject matter is so intensely local to one particular swimming community, but it certainly deserves a wider audience, if you have an interest in connecting with the natural world, a history of feminism, seasonal ceremonies, history, particularly around movements for social change, and the general, wonderful quirkiness of humanity.
I’m slap bang centre of its target audience, as I’ve been a devotee of the pond for some decades, and, at least till Covid struck us all, and then charging and booking happened, a year round swimmer. But, for anyone who has ever found delight, however briefly or infrequently in its waters, this should be a moving, joyous, celebratory and thought provoking read.
Frizzell has chosen a splendid and perfect way to approach an enclosed space of muddy water, available to women and girls, surrounded by trees, accessible via a gravelly, occasionally water logged, potholed footpath from Hampstead Heath. The Heath itself, with its many off paved surfaces, is something of a miracle and enchantment in a Capital city, but Kenwood Ladies Pond is surely the jewel of all unlikely jewels in its crown. Frizzell has eschewed a linear approach. Instead, she’s managed some kind of magical weaving of a web, structured around particular ‘events’ and celebrations which mark days throughout the year, which might have pagan or other resonance, or be days when there are particular happenings at the pond.
Through this route, she seamlessly dives, surfaces, swims through and explores ripples of subject matter, conversations with people who hold the history and nature of the pond, both personally and in the wider collective. The tone of the book is never dry, often hilarious, and easily tugging at the heart, with moments of uplift and recognition. The whole book feels like the most natural, rambling and gloriously connected conversations which might happen with a group of dear friends, who are all happily together giving space for whatever might be to be heard and said.
Mistressfull! . As are the glorious line drawings by Becca Thorne. What a lucky me to be offered a digital ARC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I really wanted to love Brave and Bold by Nell Frizzell — I’m pretty much the exact target audience. I swim outdoors all year in just a swimsuit and messing about in the ice, I’ve swum in the Ladies’ Pond, and I’ve loved loads of similar books (including At the Pond, which I really enjoyed). And to be fair, there are parts of this that really worked for me.
The best bits are where Frizzell leans into the sensory side of it all — the changing seasons, the feel of the water, the atmosphere around the pond, the nature. Those passages are genuinely lovely and capture that slightly addictive, hard-to-explain magic of the pond and the community around it.
But I found myself a bit frustrated with the historical sections. They felt quite meandering and didn’t always have a clear structure or point. There didn’t seem to be a clear thread to each chapter, so I occasionally found them a bit of a slog. Some sections also felt a bit repetitive, which made it harder to stay engaged.
Overall, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. There’s definitely beauty in it, especially if you already have a connection to the pond or wild swimming in general — but I think it’ll have quite niche appeal, and it didn’t quite come together as a whole for me. Still, I can think of people who’ll enjoy it and I will happily recommend it to.
I really wanted to love Brave and Bold by Nell Frizzell — I’m pretty much the exact target audience. I swim outdoors all year in just a swimsuit and messing about in the ice, I’ve swum in the Ladies’ Pond, and I’ve loved loads of similar books (including At the Pond, which I really enjoyed). And to be fair, there are parts of this that really worked for me.
The best bits are where Frizzell leans into the sensory side of it all — the changing seasons, the feel of the water, the atmosphere around the pond, the nature. Those passages are genuinely lovely and capture that slightly addictive, hard-to-explain magic of the pond and the community around it.
But I found myself a bit frustrated with the historical sections. They felt quite meandering and didn’t always have a clear structure or point. There didn’t seem to be a clear thread to each chapter, so I occasionally found them a bit of a slog. Some sections also felt a bit repetitive, which made it harder to stay engaged.
Overall, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. There’s definitely beauty in it, especially if you already have a connection to the pond or wild swimming in general — but I think it’ll have quite niche appeal, and it didn’t quite come together as a whole for me. Still, I can think of people who’ll enjoy it and I will happily recommend it to.
June 5, 2026
This was a slog, possibly more so because I was listening to it so got the author’s sanctimony by voice as well as word. (Didn’t help that several mistakes were left in too, thanks Audible).
I got this because I’m looking into wild swimming (oops sorry apparently I shouldn’t be using that term any more according to the author). So little of the book was actually about the pond or swimming though. It was repetitive and creepily full of name dropping (yes we get it, you met Emma Thompson. Yes we get it, you took your child to interviews). She makes much of the privacy and secrecy of time at the pond(s), so I wonder how some of the celebs named feel about being named as visitors and potentially losing what may once have been a place of anonymity. It was less a history of the pond and more an overindulgent semi autobiography.
Some of the prose was pretty I suppose, but after the gazillionth time of the water being described as ‘silky green’ you start to look at Roget’s Thesaurus with yearning.
I got this because I’m looking into wild swimming (oops sorry apparently I shouldn’t be using that term any more according to the author). So little of the book was actually about the pond or swimming though. It was repetitive and creepily full of name dropping (yes we get it, you met Emma Thompson. Yes we get it, you took your child to interviews). She makes much of the privacy and secrecy of time at the pond(s), so I wonder how some of the celebs named feel about being named as visitors and potentially losing what may once have been a place of anonymity. It was less a history of the pond and more an overindulgent semi autobiography.
Some of the prose was pretty I suppose, but after the gazillionth time of the water being described as ‘silky green’ you start to look at Roget’s Thesaurus with yearning.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Women, water and all weathers
—
There's a theory that humans are the aquatic ape, that our long distant ancestors were some sort of waterborne mammal, and that the land is not our natural home. It's not true, that is, there's no science to back it up, but in Frizzell's careful and fascinating history of one man-made swimming pond, it feels true, that water is our natural habitat. Yes, it's a history and a collective biography (in fleeting snippets), but it's also a paean to the outdoor life, to women's physical presence outside, to the vicissitudes of life, of birth, family, struggle, death and remembrance. And of joy: threaded throughout the book is camaraderie and sisterhood, in the diversity of women who have been and continue to be part of this very British yet very global institution. A lovely read that might make you throw yourself into the water (with care!).
—
There's a theory that humans are the aquatic ape, that our long distant ancestors were some sort of waterborne mammal, and that the land is not our natural home. It's not true, that is, there's no science to back it up, but in Frizzell's careful and fascinating history of one man-made swimming pond, it feels true, that water is our natural habitat. Yes, it's a history and a collective biography (in fleeting snippets), but it's also a paean to the outdoor life, to women's physical presence outside, to the vicissitudes of life, of birth, family, struggle, death and remembrance. And of joy: threaded throughout the book is camaraderie and sisterhood, in the diversity of women who have been and continue to be part of this very British yet very global institution. A lovely read that might make you throw yourself into the water (with care!).
Review of advance copy
The Ladies' Pond holds a special place in my heart like so many others. As a result it was joyous to become saturated with the history of and stories about this institution.
The book is divided into rather arbitrary "seasons" many parts of which overlap and are repeated. For myself, I would rather have had an evidenced history of the pond and then a more rambling collection of stories, interviews, episodes, changing times. We were so often introduced to the same contributor presumably for the benefit of those dipping in and out (lol) of the book.
That said, it is a lovely and heartfelt acknowledgement of a place that resonates for so many within the history of London
The book is divided into rather arbitrary "seasons" many parts of which overlap and are repeated. For myself, I would rather have had an evidenced history of the pond and then a more rambling collection of stories, interviews, episodes, changing times. We were so often introduced to the same contributor presumably for the benefit of those dipping in and out (lol) of the book.
That said, it is a lovely and heartfelt acknowledgement of a place that resonates for so many within the history of London
June 5, 2026
Der Ladies' Pond im Hampstead Heath ist seit über hundert Jahren ein Treffpunkt für Frauen. Hier können sie nicht nur ungestört schwimmen. Der Ladies' Pond ist auch eine Zuflucht, vor dem Alltag. Hier hat sich eine besondere Gemeinschaft gebildet, in der sie über alles reden oder einfach auch schweigen können.
"The Pond is waiting, as it always is"
Nell Frizell führt ihre (schwimmenden) LeserInnen durch das Jahr am und im Ladies' Pond. Im Januar im kalten Wasser zu schwimmen, ist etwas Besonderes, aber auch eine Herausforderung, nicht nur für unerfahrene Schwimmerinnen. Man muss sich Zeit lassen und auf eine besondere Art atmen, um eine mögliche Panik zu vermeiden und das Schwimmen genießen zu können. Für mich ein schönes Bild, um sich auch auf das neue Jahr einzustellen. Das Jahr ist durch Jahreszeiten und Feste bestimmt, die auch im Wasser gefeiert werden. Während die kühlen Monate mit kurzen Tagen ruhig sind, ist es in den Sommermonaten oft so voll, dass der Zugang geregelt werden muss.
Die Autorin begleitet den Ladies' Pond länger als nur ein Jahr. Sie erzählt, wie sie sie ihn für sich entdeckt hat, vom Schwimmen und von ihrer Zeit als Rettungsschwimmerin. Von schönen, aber auch schweren Momenten und wie sie dann aufgefangen wurde. Am Pond machen sich die Frauen keine Sorgen, wie sie aussehen, sie bewerten sich nicht wegen ihrer Körper oder Badebekleidung.
Trotzdem erzählt sie die Geschichte nicht nur durch eine rosarote Brille. Natürlich gibt es Streitgespräche und nicht immer ist die Stimmung harmonisch. Aber die werden geklärt bevor sie wieder nach Hause gehen.
Ich fand nicht nur die Geschichten um den Pond spannend, sondern auch seine eigene Geschichte. Dabei hat mich überrascht, wie viele der bekannten Namen, die sich in den letzten hundert Jahren im Wasser getummelt haben, ich kenne. Für sie alle ist Schwimmen ein Weg, um sich wieder mit sich selbst zu verbinden. Nell Frizzell hat eine Liebeserklärung geschrieben: ans Schwimmen, aber auch an einen besonderen Platz.
"The Pond is waiting, as it always is"
Nell Frizell führt ihre (schwimmenden) LeserInnen durch das Jahr am und im Ladies' Pond. Im Januar im kalten Wasser zu schwimmen, ist etwas Besonderes, aber auch eine Herausforderung, nicht nur für unerfahrene Schwimmerinnen. Man muss sich Zeit lassen und auf eine besondere Art atmen, um eine mögliche Panik zu vermeiden und das Schwimmen genießen zu können. Für mich ein schönes Bild, um sich auch auf das neue Jahr einzustellen. Das Jahr ist durch Jahreszeiten und Feste bestimmt, die auch im Wasser gefeiert werden. Während die kühlen Monate mit kurzen Tagen ruhig sind, ist es in den Sommermonaten oft so voll, dass der Zugang geregelt werden muss.
Die Autorin begleitet den Ladies' Pond länger als nur ein Jahr. Sie erzählt, wie sie sie ihn für sich entdeckt hat, vom Schwimmen und von ihrer Zeit als Rettungsschwimmerin. Von schönen, aber auch schweren Momenten und wie sie dann aufgefangen wurde. Am Pond machen sich die Frauen keine Sorgen, wie sie aussehen, sie bewerten sich nicht wegen ihrer Körper oder Badebekleidung.
Trotzdem erzählt sie die Geschichte nicht nur durch eine rosarote Brille. Natürlich gibt es Streitgespräche und nicht immer ist die Stimmung harmonisch. Aber die werden geklärt bevor sie wieder nach Hause gehen.
Ich fand nicht nur die Geschichten um den Pond spannend, sondern auch seine eigene Geschichte. Dabei hat mich überrascht, wie viele der bekannten Namen, die sich in den letzten hundert Jahren im Wasser getummelt haben, ich kenne. Für sie alle ist Schwimmen ein Weg, um sich wieder mit sich selbst zu verbinden. Nell Frizzell hat eine Liebeserklärung geschrieben: ans Schwimmen, aber auch an einen besonderen Platz.
June 30, 2026
This book appealed to me because I love to swim (in a heated indoor pool- I do live in Shetland!) I have heard of The Ladies Pond on Hampstead Heath and was interested to find out more about it.
This book is beautifully written describing the pond and the experience throughout the year. It was interesting to read the history of the place. Long may it continue. However I did find the book was overlong and at times rather repetitive. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.
This book is beautifully written describing the pond and the experience throughout the year. It was interesting to read the history of the place. Long may it continue. However I did find the book was overlong and at times rather repetitive. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is possibly a niche book, just for those who use, or have used, the Ladies’ Pond, plus those who live near it perhaps. That said, I, who live over 100 miles away from it, really enjoyed reading about it.
I loved hearing about its history and all the people who swim there.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
I loved hearing about its history and all the people who swim there.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
July 2, 2026
I stumbled on this book in a local park where it had been left behind by a book fairy!
On the whole, it's a lovely read about the history of the pond and the ladies who've been there. However, at times I found myself skimming through some of the level of detail which didn't add much to the social stories.
Worth a read if it's something you're interested in, though!
On the whole, it's a lovely read about the history of the pond and the ladies who've been there. However, at times I found myself skimming through some of the level of detail which didn't add much to the social stories.
Worth a read if it's something you're interested in, though!
May 17, 2026
I saw Nell talking about her book at ally pally during the north London book fest. This is a lovely meditation on the ladies pond which I must now visit (I’ve only been to the mixed pond). I liked how it was structured through the seasons, Nell writes beautifully about nature.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
What a beautiful book
I admit that right off that I am a recent convert cold water swimming and it’s benefits particularly during the winter. I was therefore very interested to see this novel described on NetGalley UK
I suppose it would fit within non-fiction section as it is the story of the women’s only swimming ponds on Hampstead Heath from it’s very early days to current times 100 years of history
I very rarely read non-fiction however I was intrigued by this book
What stands up most to me about the book is that the author has a beautiful writing style she is able to fill a book with facts make those facts so interesting and so complex and deeply human that the book really gives us a love story to women of all shapes and sizes all ages all colours the gay women straight women old and young women
It’s a book about what it takes to be a woman now and what it meant to be a woman 100 years ago
I immediately found this book quite emotional it brought tears to my eyes on many occasions .It’s big hearted it’s really lovely the book itself is as bold and beautiful as the title.
I loved the section that talked about the different books Women were reading at the swimming lake
I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves wild swimming and there’s an increasing number of us out there believe me.
That even if you don’t personally go wild swimming, if you’re interested in women dare I say you’re not one perhaps you’re a man I think reading this book might make you understand us a little better
I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK in return for an honest review. The book is published in the UK on the 7th of May 2026 by Harper Collins UK notification.
This review appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads, StoryGraph, and my book blog bionicSarahsbooks.wordpress.com
After publication, it would also appear on Amazon UK and Waterstones online
I admit that right off that I am a recent convert cold water swimming and it’s benefits particularly during the winter. I was therefore very interested to see this novel described on NetGalley UK
I suppose it would fit within non-fiction section as it is the story of the women’s only swimming ponds on Hampstead Heath from it’s very early days to current times 100 years of history
I very rarely read non-fiction however I was intrigued by this book
What stands up most to me about the book is that the author has a beautiful writing style she is able to fill a book with facts make those facts so interesting and so complex and deeply human that the book really gives us a love story to women of all shapes and sizes all ages all colours the gay women straight women old and young women
It’s a book about what it takes to be a woman now and what it meant to be a woman 100 years ago
I immediately found this book quite emotional it brought tears to my eyes on many occasions .It’s big hearted it’s really lovely the book itself is as bold and beautiful as the title.
I loved the section that talked about the different books Women were reading at the swimming lake
I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves wild swimming and there’s an increasing number of us out there believe me.
That even if you don’t personally go wild swimming, if you’re interested in women dare I say you’re not one perhaps you’re a man I think reading this book might make you understand us a little better
I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK in return for an honest review. The book is published in the UK on the 7th of May 2026 by Harper Collins UK notification.
This review appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads, StoryGraph, and my book blog bionicSarahsbooks.wordpress.com
After publication, it would also appear on Amazon UK and Waterstones online
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews