Hampstead Ladies Pond

When I was leaving Hampstead Heath Ladies Pond this weekend, I saw this gorgeous, tanned and toned guy in his late 20s/early 30s stripped to his shorts with a towel slung over his right shoulder starring devastatingly at the bathing times’ board by the entrance to the pond, which also carries the words NO MEN BEYOND THIS POINT.

Standing next to him was an elegant, sun-kissed and agile-looking woman in her late 50s/early 60s with a sports bag. The guy was looking at the board with such concentration it was as if he was in the middle of translating the English into Greek. The woman was dividing her attention between looking at the young man, looking at the board and looking at anyone looking at them. My smile broadened. I almost said to her: “Why don’t you go in? I am sure no one would mind...” but I was too busy giggling.

When I shot a glance over my shoulder after I had walked past them, they were STILL standing there.