Bringing gender fluidity to Hampstead’s ponds

SIR – Allison Pearson (Comment, May 30) applauds the “doughty dames” who self-identified as men in order to crash the male-only pond on Hampstead Heath.

My father would be amused, as he started swimming there in 1934, and is still alive and well at 92. I was introduced to the pond by him at 18 months old, during the winter. He dunked me in via a hole in the ice.

The pond to which Ms Pearson refers is one of three such bathing ponds on the Heath: male, female and mixed. The male and female enclosures were provided to allow locals to exercise and sunbathe uninhibited, dressed as nature intended – though users were instructed to don their bathing costumes before swimming.

The male pond is larger, but the verdant female pond is less public. Perhaps, one Saturday this summer, I shall identify as female and sample its delights.

Laurence Kirk Stratford-upon-avon, Warwickshire