{"product_id":"brave-and-bold-100-years-of-the-ladies-pond-on-hampstead-heath-in-all-weathers-a-celebration-of-women-community-and-the-enduring-magic-of-wild-swimming-a-must-read-for-2026","title":"Brave and Bold: 100 years of the Ladies’ Pond on Hampstead Heath (in all weathers) – a celebration of women, community, and the enduring magic of wild swimming. A must-read for 2026.","description":"\u003cp\u003eA hundred years. Thousands of women. One extraordinary pond. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor a century, the Ladies' Pond on Hampstead Heath has welcomed women from every walk of life: 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCreated in collaboration 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"sb-details\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGenre:\u003c\/strong\u003e Biographies \u0026amp; Memoirs, Community \u0026amp; Culture\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hardback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublished:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e Mudlark\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9780008797393\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Frizzell, Nell","offers":[{"title":"Standard Secondhand — £4.45","offer_id":48150228238513,"sku":"SB-0008797390-C3","price":4.45,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/2669\/5345\/files\/0008797390_8a7d05a5-129c-4ef2-9cc4-b5107812bf0d.jpg?v=1794438704","url":"https:\/\/sellbooks.co.uk\/products\/brave-and-bold-100-years-of-the-ladies-pond-on-hampstead-heath-in-all-weathers-a-celebration-of-women-community-and-the-enduring-magic-of-wild-swimming-a-must-read-for-2026","provider":"Sell Books .co.uk","version":"1.0","type":"link"}