To not be able to offer swimming for the second consecutive morning during the height of the midsummer months is unfortunate; to repeat this act is not even careless – it’s a cock up of major proportions on behalf of Fusion.
The problem here is chlorine: too much chlorine. Fusion has been pumping the pool full of chemicals, to try and keep away the midges after the algae situation of last summer.
It’s a delicate balancing act – not enough chlorine and the algae ferments; too many chemicals and you run the risk of having to close the pool because swimmers’ skin starts to burn away.
Blimey.
And so having been told by Fusion management *not* to leave the chlorine pump on overnight, the last man standing lifeguard, um, left the chlorine pump on overnight on Monday.
Whoops.
The scenes at 7am outside Lake Brockwell were not pleasant. Swimmers are usually a serene bunch, happy to see in a midsummer morning with the tranquil activity of a dip in the great outdoors. Turn them away for the second morning running and the Speedo boys and girls tend to get a little agitated.
The lido community is more than the sum of a simple swim. We meet early morning to share friendships and conversation in what has to be the most delightful location in all of South London. It’s a way of life for the summer months, and one that doesn’t take too kindly to a corporate cock up one again from Fusion.
This is the third time this month that Fusion has forgotten how to run an outdoor pool. From memory, there wasn’t a single chlorine or algae related incident in the twelve years of the lido golden years under the fine management of Paddy and Casey.
Back in the day and the algae was attacked at source with the good old-fashioned method of a wetsuit, some breathing apparatus and a chisel. The result was the beautiful clear blue waters of Brockwell, something that has come to characterise all that is lovely about the lido.
It hasn’t helped that the Fusion site manager departed this summer, swiftly followed by the lido manager. A new team is in place, but with little knowledge in how to upkeep an outdoor pool.
And so for the second morning running, it was a return to my love / hate relationship with Brixton Rec. Sterile, suffocated, and yep, heavy on chlorine.
Yuk. No thanks.
A third morning of such inconvenience may not get the polite “pah” response from the lovely lido community of SE24.
This piece was first published on Londonist, and appears (slightly) dated.
Brockwell Lido has offered outdoor swimming to South Londoners for seventy three summers, although sadly not consecutive, with four years missed during the early 90′s as part of a Lambeth Council cost cutting exercise. I am proud to be entering my fifteenth season as a swimmer down in SE24, and one that for personal reasons, sadly may also be my last.
The 1937 Grade II listed pool provides locals with a 50 yard unheated (hurrah!) stretch in which to swim, as well as a state of the art modern gym, housed away in a refurbishment that was completed three summers ago.
The awarding of a twenty-five year lease from Lambeth Council to Fusion, has been the savior of Brockwell Lido. The gym makes money all year round, enabling al fresco swimmers to enjoy lido life for the six months of the year when South London hits a heat wave.
Ah, yes – about that current South London heatwave…
The Happiest Day of the Year in South London was the morning after the general election. If the election results weren’t enough to give you a kick up the backside, then the tepid twelve degrees temperature on the first morning of the pool being open made diving in a personal political act.
The anticipation of meeting up once again with the lovely lido community is the inspiration to drag your aching body down to Brockwell Park at 6:30 in the morning. It almost made the months of misery spent bemoaning Brixton Rec seem bearable.
As ever, you’ve done the hard part by being in the park. Once you are poolside, then you are going to swim. With a wetsuit hugging my toned torso (steady) what could go wrong?
A great leap of faith into the deep end, and I had forgotten how the Happiest Day of the Year also leads to your head exploding, should you make the silly mistake of forgetting your bright pink swimming cap.
Bugger.
Halfway down the first length and I panicked. The arms and legs were functioning, but the head had long since lost circulation. I started to see things on the other side of the pool that all rational thought tells you simply don’t exist.
That wasn’t *really* a naked female swimmer, was it?
I persevered, and after five minutes of a frantic freestyle motion, my conscious existence soon returned to my well being. I looked above as a flock of geese passed overhead, observing my every motion, and I then broke out into a great big underwater smile that will probably remain all the way until the season closer come October.
A return to the heated changing rooms was a welcome respite. The continual blasting out of Radio Twaddle on the internal sound system is something that I, and other early morning swimmers, could well do without.
But a minor gripe in what has signaled the start of six months of early morning swimming and grinning down at the lovely lido. By the time I had showered and put back in place my three layers of clothing, I was just about able to walk in a straight line once again.
These will gradually be shed, one by one, over the coming weeks, along with the wetsuit as I acclimatise back into the routine of daily lido life.
The lovely Lido Cafe was open for the Breakfast Club, and the public art project from local artists Gethin and Myles, was proudly on display in the basin of the pool for those brave enough to take a dip. Memories of lido life from local users have been lovingly painted around the perimeter of the pool, as a statement of some form of private underwater reading club.
Expect the pool temperature to rise to around twenty degrees come mid-June, peaking at a positively Mediterranean twenty-five degrees by July. Best keep the wetsuit ready from here onwards…
A lido swim doesn’t come cheap at £5.20 per adult. This is a figure calculated more in line with the traditional lido ethos of having a swim, and then arseing about poolside for the rest of the day. Season tickets at £150 represent far better value for money.
The lido community is set to truly take off this season, finally having a functioning lido cafe upon which events can be arranged. Brothers Daniel and Duncan not only provide poolside refreshments, but also high class cuisine and an entertainment schedule during the evenings.
So yeah, fifteen years of putting the lengths in at the lido, and fifteen summers ‘wasted’ by sitting around the poolside doing bugger all.
If at first you don’t succeed, smear, smear and smear again. The latest last chance saloon leaflet from @LambethLabour in Herne Hill is shameful. It exposes the local party for all that is wrong within politics in the Rotten Borough. The literature resorts to sickening lies, and attempts to scare the good people of SE24 into voting for the Election Machine that was once a proud political party.
Realising that the Greens down in Herne Hill have a very real chance of building upon their current Councillor in the ward, @JimDicksLambeth is continuing with his policy of lying to hold onto political power in the borough.
Here’s the full Herne Hill horror show from @LambethLabour:
“Lambeth Green party policies include:
Pressing for the legalisation of drugs including skunk cannabis and class A drugs in Herne Hill – a measure which would risk turning our area into South London’s main drugs supermarket.”
What a disgusting statement to make. The legalisation of drugs, soft or hard, is nowhere to be seen in the Lambeth Green manifesto. What can be found however, anywhere along Coldharbour Lane, on any morning, afternoon or evening of the week, are drugs being sold overtly to anyone who is interested.
South London’s main drugs supermarket [sic] is actually trading within the ward that is currently represented by three @LambethLabour Councillors.
There’s more of the vile campaigning to come:
“[Lambeth Greens] blocked the 20 mph Zone for Herne Hill proposed by Labour for this year.”
Cos yeah, Lambeth Greens are the local political arm of the car lobby…
It’s truly pathetic. The Greens in Herne Hill are campaigning on the exact opposite policy. As local candidate John Hare explained to me during our last conversation about @LambethLabour election literature lies, the Greens are actually pushing for the 20′s Plenty policy to be rolled out across the entire borough.
This is a scheme that limits the speed on local authority owned roads to 20 mph. It has been implemented successfully up in Islington, and John gained great support for the proposal at the Lambeth Cyclists transport hustings last month.
And so why is @LambethLabour coming out with this eve of polling day political prevarication against the Greens? If the previous smear was anything to by, our red flag flying friends have actually forgotten about the 36% share of the vote that the greens polled back in 2006.
Realising that a Stalinist (ooh!) re-writing of history from a right wing Nu Labour cabinet member wasn’t getting the message across to the electorate, @LambethLabour and @JimDicksLambeth have had to resort to a dirty, filthy political trick.
It is worth reminding ourselves ahead of the trip to the polling station tomorrow that @LambethLabour party policies include:
Is this the most pointless zebra crossing in South London? I certainly thought so as I approached the new Herne Hill junction at Brockwell Park at the weekend. In a ten minute period, I counted ten cars in succession fail to stop for ten groups of pedestrians who were trying to enter Brockwell Park.
The new slip road in SE24 finally opened last week, following a three-year period of campaigning for and against the replacement of parkland with a road. The local community was split, with the Herne Hill Society supporting the scheme, and the Friends of Brockwell Park being adamantly against the surrendering of precious green land.
The truth lies somewhere in the middle. The old junction wasn’t working. The traffic was constantly congested; the entrance to the park was neglected and had become a haven for street drinkers. The actual park space sacrificed to solve the problem was a minor, minor 0.02%
But still – with the Brockwell Park junction now open is it actually working?
My observations on Saturday would suggest not. I accept it is still very early days, and the full implementation of the scheme is yet to be complete. The closure of the area outside of Herne Hill station to traffic is still a work in progress. The effectiveness of the overall plan can’t be properly assessed until this is complete.
But it seems to me that the planning, and justification of the scheme, has been badly thought out. The literature from our friends @lambeth_council, released in September 2007 to try and persuade locals to support the scheme, stated:
“Island Green [urgh!] will provide an attractive link between the centre of Herne Hill and the Park, giving people safer access to and from the Park.”
Island Green [urgh! again] is actually the great big slab of pavement that now replaces the green park land, the very same great big slab of pavement where pedestrians are left stranded as traffic flows down the slip road and blocks off the route into the splendour of Brockwell Park.
The fancy architect diagram contained in the literature from @lambeth_council has Island Green [urgh! urgh! urgh!] actually shaded in a soft, pastel yellow and green tone. What exists now is an unimaginative, and very out of place, huge big slab of concrete. A bit of guerrilla gardening is urgently needed.
And what of the fate of cyclists, in what is a notoriously Green political part of the borough where cycling is a stronghold? The @lambeth_council 2007 literature states:
“Forward stop lines and easier access from Norwood Road into Dulwich Road will help cyclists.”
Um, not so.
The forward stop lines are the green boxes that motorists hog up as they edge ever close to cyclists and try and gain advantage. The choice for cyclists is to be pushed aside at the boxes, or risk being rammed into Green Island, as the narrow slip road can’t accommodate anything but single file traffic.
This is a poorly thought out scheme that adds no beauty, or even ease of traffic congestion to the Herne Hill junction. As you can probably detect, my frustration over such a wasted opportunity needed an outlet.
Thankfully the very decent Robert Holden of the Herne Hill Society was at hand on Saturday to talk me through my concerns, Robert has been a passionate supporter of the scheme, and had put in an incredible workload to try and find a solution for the Herne Hill junction.
We had an enjoyable and constructive discussion. My concerns over the effectiveness, and appearance of the whole project remain. I accept time is needed to fully assess the project, and I welcomed the Robert’s enthusiasm to take on suggestions, and the possibility of making Green Island more… greener.
Almost there. Only five days to go until the lovely lido opens up once again for a season of procrastination down in SE24.
The staging of the Art Deco Fair on Saturday signalled that the new lido season is almost upon us. There has been a slight delay in opening up the waters of Lake Brockwell this year, with the lure of a Bank Holiday Monday lido swim being put back until Friday.
“Technical difficulties” (waiting for a pool plant part to arrive from Germany) means that the Best Day of the Year in South London will have to wait until all that political posturing of May 6th is out of the way.
Purification in the waters of Lake Brockwell, the morning after the dirty deed has been done, seems like the perfect cure for the political hangover to me.
And so I walked through the creaking lido turnstiles on Saturday, settled up for a lido season ticket (£150 – £1.20 a swim every day through until October, and no increase on last year,) and then was welcomed back into the lido community with my happy, smiling summer friends all around.
Lido historian Peter Bradley was the first to greet me. We exchanged tales of the misery of our winter months, and the loathsome practise that is being pent up inside an indoor pool. Time to break free, time to embrace the tepid waters of Lake Brockwell.
The lovely Brockwell Lido Users Group had set up stall poolside. It is worth remembering that events such as the now annual Art Deco Fair wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for BLU and the campaign to breathe life back into the lido almost a decade ago.
Blimey – has it *really* been that long?
The Herne Hill Society were very friendly, even in the rare moment of mild frustration found within the most peaceful place in South London. An angry (ish) young blogger asked about the bodge job of the Herne Hill junction outside Brockwell Park. Almost an hour of debate followed, some appeasement and even a handshake at the end – lido life has that kind of calming effect on you. More on the Herne Hill conversation to come…
The pool itself was looking resplendent. Clear, blue water and a temperature of around 15 degrees to give you that perfect May 7th kick up the political backside. I have already rehearsed my choice of political phrase to unleash, as I dive in for the time and my head explodes with the harshness of the water. You need some kind of physical release, and my local politician of choice is lined up to receive the verbal assault.
The typography art installation by Gethin and Myles looks even more intriguing now that the water has entered the pool. The beautiful lettering, lovingly painted within the basin of the lido, is barely visible from above. Goggles on, heads down, and I think a few swimmers are in for a pleasant literary surprise, come that first chilly bathing on Friday morning.
The Fair itself wasn’t simply a commercial proposition. Other artistic installations were in place poolside. A plastic cup and a piece of string style communication system stretched across the width of the pool. Pick up a cup, and you were rewarded with some history of the lido’s past, with stories told from the many lido voices throughout the past seventy years.
A Mouse Trap style board game was also in place, which resulted in a figurine of a chap diving into the water. The lack of a German pump didn’t seem to bother the plastic fella.
A periscope was also by the side of the pool, replicating the view from the lido as seen from 20 meters above. It seemed perfect that the mirror focussed down on a bikini bra that was positioned in perfect range for closer inspection.
So yep – almost, almost there. Fifteen years of lido life, and one final epic summer of arseing about by the pool to come for me. I’m going to make the most of it, come rain, shine or even *eek* work.
False information in election leaflets is an issue that is not only making headlines nationally. Here in Lambeth and the local Labour party is publishing literature in Herne Hill that is quite frankly, a pack of lies.
@LambethLabour needs this lone Green seat to counteract the @LambethLibDems surge. The Greens meanwhile have recognised that their share of just under 37% of the vote in 2006, suggests that the electorate in Herne Hill is sympathetic to the Green message.
Ah yes – about that 36.7% share of the vote that the Greens managed to achieve back at the last local election. If you are in possession of an election leaflet put out by the much hyped #labourdoorstep team in Herne Hill, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Green’s fine performance four years ago was simply a political mirage.
Even keen to re-write political history, @LambethLabour has produced a highly misleading graph. Nu Labour feature (45%), as do the LibDems (40%) and even the Tories (15%) – the Greens are nowhere to be seen in the vision for Herne Hill, as fantasised by @LambethLabour.
Which is all a bit strange, seeing as though the @LambethLabour leaflet headlines states: “Two Horse Race in Herne Hill,” with the overt suggestion that a vote for the Greens is a meaningless vote.
Green Councillor Thackray was elected with more votes in 2006 than any of the @LambethLabour candidates. A whopping great big political lie is currently dropping through the letterboxes in Herne Hill.
I emailed Councillor Dickson, one of the current @LambethLabour Cllr’s for the ward, as well as the current Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources. With such a prestigious (and well paid) position, one would hope that the good Councillor has a fine head for figures:
“I am researching and writing a news story on the Labour election leaflets in Herne Hill. The Greens are taking issue with the claim that Labour has 45% of the vote, the Conservatives 40% and the LibDems 15%.
Please can you confirm where the figures came from, and why the Green vote of 36.7% at the last local election doesn’t appear in the leaflet.”
I appreciate that is must be a busy time for any local Councillor seeking re-election (especially so with the pesky Green vote of 36.7% giving you a bit of a headache…) – but no response from Councillor Dickson as yet.
Ever keen to find the missing 36.7% of the Green vote in Herne Hill, I turned instead to the political party that appears to have been whitewashed out of Lambeth politics.
John Hare is one of the Green candidates for the Herne Hill ward. He very kindly agreed to give me his take on the misleading @LambethLabour leaflet, as well as look ahead, with hopefully a positive agenda for the borough.
As John admits in the audioboo below, the fabrication of the figures by @LambethLabour leaves his party in a tricky position when trying to convert the good people of Herne Hill to the Green cause.
To make an issue of the @LambethLabour lies is to possibly appear as mudslinging. It’s a difficult dilemma, and one that has wholly been created by the Nu Labour party in the borough, with the aim of making political capital out of the propaganda being published.
John was able to offer a response given from Councillor Dickson regarding the data that has appeared out of nowhere. @LambethLabour has told the Greens that the graph is:
“…an illustration of our view of the respective strengths of the three main national parties in this area.”
Which is Nu Labour speak for saying we simply made the figures up.
I was horrified to hear this. It is not illegal to tell lies in election literature. If @LambethLabour has admitted that false information has been published in the leaflets, what else is open to scrutiny?
John didn’t want to become embroiled in the whole seedy matter of @LambethLabour mudslinging, but to remain silent would be a betrayal of the electorate in Herne Hill. Vote Green, get Tories, appears to be the rally cry from @LambethLabour.
Um, not so
If the election results from 2006 are any indicator, vote Green, get rid of the Councillor who admits that the figures in a political leaflet have been made up, would seem more likely.
Meanwhile I rather enjoyed my afternoon of tea and political chat with John Hare. The Green candidate was keen to put over the policies of his party, something that has been missing from @LambethLabour in Herne Hill.
John is a realist, not a liar. He recognises that the Greens won’t hold political power in Lambeth come May 7th, but he is hopeful of building upon the first Green seat won back in 2006.
With both Herne Hill and Brixton Hill being central to the Green campaign, John confirmed that if elected, the Green Councillors in Lambeth would refuse to enter into coalition with any political party. Voting and support (or lack of it) would be positioned in line with local Green policy.
I recognised John’s observation that Nu Labour in Lambeth is now nothing but an election fighting machine. I supported his observation that the role of the Greens in Lambeth is to be the conscience of @LambethLabour (even if I got my words a little tongue twisted at the end.)
So yeah, lies, damn lies and @LambethLabour lies. And we didn’t even get round to talking about Lambeth Life…
And so after the working party last weekend in SE24, early Saturday morning and we were ready to roll out for another season of outdoor track cycling at Herne Hill Velo.
Chapeau!
I’ve got big plans for this season: to try and finish it. It’s a hell of a long stretch from the Ides of March, all the way through until the autumnal days of October.
In-between there will no doubt be days when the weather gets the better of us, and with larger plans looming elsewhere come the end of summer, best to make hay ‘n all that.
If you have told the fine folk at VCL three weeks ago that we would be rolling out in rotation on Saturday morning, you would have been suspected of having taken a particularly bad knock to the head without wearing a bicycle helmet.
But woh – where did that cold snap go? Bright blue South London skies awaited my arrival at Herne Hill. The track looked splendid following the spring clean last week.
I really think the new racing schedule is going to work well this season. 9-10 am for the juniors removes the novices from bunching with the kids, as well as keeping the track clear for the intermediates only at 10am.
Ah yes, the intermediates. This is the banding of which I’m supposed to belong in. Technically a veteran, but still hanging on to hopes of Herne Hill glory.
Shortly after 10am, I cleated my ride, and rolled out nervously around the first bank. It was like I had never been away. The first breakaway group got my heart rate up. By the second and I could feel the blood pumping through every vein in my body. This is what it’s all about. It’s got to be better than the weekly supermarket shop on a Saturday morning.
Holding back the novice riders until after the intermediates, also allows VCL to experiment with the schedule. Bumps and Lumps was a new discipline for me, and one which I found rather hairy.
You follow the lead rider in a single string, as a route up and down is weaved all the way around the historic Herne Hill track. The thinking is to improve your awareness and handling abilities. The reality for me was that I almost ended up with a bump and a lump.
Rotation finished the first session of the season – a ride of stamina as the pace picks up with each lap. This was more like it, although I bonked as the pelaton broke away for a sprint finish.
But it’s early days down in SE24. I’ve got seven months in which to refine my track riding skills. There is much work to do.
It’s surprising how smooth the transition from road racing to the track is. You soon remember the small things, such as the idiosyncratic track hand signals, or the need to stick with the pack, else suffer the fate of bonking alone on the banks.
Come midday, and I de-cleated and hit the shakes. From my shoulders down to my fingernails, my arm and hands were in freefall. The cycle back to Sunny Stockwell on the Moulton had a fair share of bumps and lumps along the way.
