London Fields Lido — Attraction in London

I'm a member at the Olympic Aquatic Centre and usually goes there 3 times a week to swim. The Aquatic Centre is closed throughout May for the European Aquatic Championship, so I decided to try out other pools in east London. Having read lots of great reviews of this place, I decided to check it out today (May bank holiday Sunday).

As I'm used to using £1 as deposit to use the locker at the aquatic centre, I didn't have any 20p coin on me, went and change some at the reception. The lockers are all very narrow, so I had to take things out of my backpack and stack them up to fit everything in the locker. The lock was a bit stiff, and before I knew it the key recoiled and took/charged me 20p, and I didn't even get to use the bloody thing! After a quick word with the pool guard, he called someone from the reception to come and help me. And that was resolved promptly. She(the help from reception) also reminded me to take all the essentials out or I'll have to pay 20p each time I open/close the locker.

Upon putting my head into the water, I was shocked by the amount of debris floating in the water. I thought this was just the shallow end, it'll be fine once I swim pass this part. I was wrong, there were black and brown algae-like debris floating across the entire pool, let alone the small leaves and dirt collected at the bottom of the pool. I felt as if I was swimming in some pond!

One positive point is that the pool are divided into four lanes(practice, slow, medium and fast), each of them are very wide so it's easy to overtake a fellow swimmer if he/she decides to slow down all of a sudden.(No such issue once I moved to the fast lane after warming myself up in the medium lane).

20 laps later, I decided to call it a day and went to the outdoor showering cubicle to rinse off. It is a unisex shower cubicle and the shower heads are very close to each other, I felt a bit too intimate with the fellow swimmers showering next to me (we would've been constantly elbowing each other had we decided to soap ourselves up at the same time) so I decided to shower in the male changing room. BIG MISTAKE!!! Water was cooler(not cold) than the outside and literally dribbled out of the shower head. Yes, I checked both shower cubicles that were available, same temperature and poor water volume.

If you have long hair and enjoy a proper blow-dry after shampooing your hair, you're not going to like the next bit. It costs 20p to get it working and I suspect that it has a timer on it as well.

I must say the staff I met today were all very friendly and helpful. Not too impressed with the facilities unfortunately. If this is a pool with an average 4.5 star rating, I dread to think what the other ones(under the Better company)...

One of Hackney's larger and prettier parks with a host of features: there's a well equipped and large children's playground, opposite that the very cool Pub on the Park (qv separate reviews), with extensive outdoor seating as well as a covered (by a kind of marquee, the sides of which can be raised or lowered as the weather dictates) area with space heaters so the smokers don't have to face the wind and rain even in winter. West(ish) of the pub and playground, which are towards the northeastern corner of the park is a cricket pitch. Continuing west there's a generously sized paddling pool. North of that tennis courts and south of it, all along the northeastern edge of the park, is the London Fields Lido, which is well appointed, pleasantly heated and open all year round. Continuing south, on the eastern side is a large barbequeing area, some basketball courts to the west and am area of wild flowers, though that hasn't appeared every year. On the southern edge, opposite Broadway Market there are a couple of table tennis tables, though you're probably best off supplying your own paddles and ball, unless you want to take pot luck. The park has plenty of nature trees offering shade on hot, sunny days and a network of criss-crossing paths. Along half of the eastern edge is a cycle path that leads from the public toilets, near the pub, to Broadway Market, although cyclists will use all of the park's paths (myself included). Most, if not all of them, will be polite and give priority to pedestrians. The only drawback to such a plethora of facilities is that it's extremely popular and, in the summer, particularly on warm sunny days, it's absolutely heaving, packed to the gills. There are regular events throughout the summer and fun fairs two or three times a year. The park is well lit at night, is not fenced and, as such, is accessible 24/7. There really is something for...

London Fields has progressed from hidden gem, to open secret, and then to the ultimate place to see and be seen location in East London. It has everything required for a casual day in the sun: plenty of well-stocked independent shops that provide exotic and organic food, a wide selection of beverages, and restaurants that cater for a selection of tastes.

The cusine on offer ranges from French, Japanese, Argentine, Cypriot, British, Spanish and Italian. The little Franco Manca place is dizzy with its take away business, and like the local bread shops, coffee shops, butcher and fish mongers: has seen a significant increase in demand as good weather, and wanting to avoid supermarket queues has seeped into the collective mind of the locals.

I've since discovered a local ice cream brand called Hackney Gelato, slow churned and lucious, which should come with an addiction warning because it tastes so good, and regularly sells out. I've come to graze upon the mini markets bedecked with fruit this is more expensive, but packed with flavour: one finds melons that are ripe and bountiful, rather than the sterile flavours that one finds in supermarkets these days.

The energy of London Fields these days is young, upbeat, sexy, and swag, with a large dose of yummy mummy and dishy dad thrown for good measure. No one minds the harmless drunks that gather opposite the Cat & Mutton pub, as they add to the flavour of the place and is very much a Hackney vibe not to be put off by life.

Come to London Fields if you like your days to feel care free and casual: lockdown ended here long before Cummings went to...