A Cool Swim in the King's Cross Pond

King's Cross is, as I often mention, an area in a constant state of flux. When it was announced last year that they were going to create an outdoor swimming pond among the building sites, most people at my office — a mere hop, skip and a jump along York Way — thought it was scarcely more likely to materialise than the Regent's Canal 'LidoLine'.

However, the doubters were proven wrong and the King's Cross Pond Club opened up in May. I've been meaning to visit, but a) I've been pretty busy and b) I've been waiting for the weather to warm up. Despite years of enforced Christmas Day swims in the Mediterranean, I am a total wuss when it comes to cold water. I checked the weather forecast for last week, though, and Friday was set to be sunny and warm for the whole day, so I booked in for a post-work slot, figuring I would give the pond the maximum chance to warm up.

The pond is located on Stable Street, about five or ten minutes' walk north of King's Cross Station (walk up King's Boulevard, cross the road and the canal, and then cut across Granary Square). There's a grassy picnic area just outside — or you can pop into the adjacent Skip Garden Café. Various informational signs tell you about the history and ecology of the pond, and there's also a viewing tower that you can climb up to enjoy the aerial view.

My ticket, which I booked online, was £6.50, but there are cheaper tickets for less popular slots. They only let a limited number of swimmers in per day to allow the pond to 'breathe' in between, so it is worth booking in advance. Inside, there are a few minimalist changing rooms and lockers; they lend padlocks, but had run out by the time I got there, so I just kept my things next to the pond. There are mandatory cold showers — as the lifeguard told me, the showers were the coldest part!

At 6 pm on a sunny Friday, there were were a few people swimming and bobbing in the pond and several more lounging near the water on the sun loungers. Naturally, being me, I wanted to leap into the water, but the lifeguard told me I had to do it from the top step, which made it hard to get momentum. I like to think the expression on my face reflects the intense concentration of trying to take off rather than my trepidation about the impending coldness.

And yes, it was pretty cold in the water. Being able to jump in made it much better than having to wade, although there are tiered steps at the shallow end. The pond is kidney shaped and not entirely suited to a lot of people doing laps, but most people were only really swimming enough to take the chill off. 

The water was clear and super-clean — they don't use chemicals; instead, they purify the water using submerged water plants that filter the water. The plants are kept in a separate section of the pond that you can't swim in, and the bottom of the swimming part is smooth and not at all muddy or slimy, so in that sense it isn't truly 'wild swimming', but I rather liked this artificial wildness.

After I'd done about 20 lengths, my fingers were starting to feel really frigid so I got out and lay in the sun for a while. I didn't fancy a cold shower, so I just got changed and headed home for a hot shower instead.

The King's Cross Pond Club is likely to be around for two years, although I suspect that if it stays open during the winter, it won't be quite so much fun — unless they turn it into a hot tub! 

King's Cross Pond Club. 20 Canal Reach, London, N1C 4BE (Tube: King's Cross). CLOSED

Cannes: Beaches, Bites To Eat and Biot

As I was only in Cannes for a long weekend, I wanted to spend as much time as possible on the beach. This included spending the whole of Sunday relaxing on Île Sainte-Marguerite and most of the rest of the time at Plage Zamenhof, one of the public beaches in the eastern corner of the Bay of Cannes. 

Cannes: Excursion to Île Sainte-Marguerite

When in Cannes for the summer, I spend as much time as possible on the beach. There are plenty of good public beaches in Cannes itself, my favourite for swimming and sunbathing being Plage Zamenhof, which is on the eastern end of the main stretch of the Croisette. Sometimes, though, it's nice to escape the town and head for one of the islands.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Itinéraire Café, Cannes

Updated (2026): I now have a much more comprehensive and more recently updated Cannes specialty coffee guide.

I've been going to Cannes two or three times a year for more than a decade, but finding good — or even decent — coffee there has been hard, though I've had a decent noisette (macchiato) at a few places around town. Da Laura, an Italian restaurant on rue du Vingt-Quatre Août and a family favourite of ours, often performs well in the noisette stakes: this little beauty arrived at the end of lunch on my first day in town on Friday.

What's in My Bag: A Long Weekend in Cannes

I am on my way to Cannes today for a long weekend at my parents' apartment. My main holiday this year was to Mexico, but June and July were insanely busy at work and I've been in need of a little sunshine, sea and poulet rôti. I booked a hand-luggage only with BA and I'm travelling super-light, taking only my trusty small and large Longchamp Le Pliage totes.

This is what I'm bringing — the only things missing are my blazer for the plane, fedora and DLSR. I keep a few things at my parents' place, including a spare pair of running shoes, a few tops and some toiletries, which helps a lot when I'm travelling light. 

My things are laid out on a Hammamas towel; I won't be taking it with me on this trip, but I've had the turquoise version for about five years and love it so much that I've just bought a pink one to keep at my office. They are lightweight, absorbent and very chic; great for those who like to travel light.

I will be in Cannes for four days, so as well as my purple Havaianas flipflops, my favourite black Banana Republic ballet flats, my & Other Stories bikini, undies and my running kit, I'm bringing: two pairs of shorts (khaki are from Miss Selfridge circa 2004, indigo are J. Crew); five tops (smart black lace tank from Banana Republic, pink textured tank from J. Crew, Uniqlo striped tank, pink American Eagle tee and indigo J. Crew tee); a lightweight cardi; and two dresses (pink and green dress from TopShop and navy dress with floral pattern from Aqua). There are a few toiletries and make-up items here too, but I have more at the apartment.

It isn't hard to guess that my three favourite colours are pink, turquoise and purple, is it? Most of these items, apart from my laptop and chargers, will go in my smaller 'handbag-sized' bag. I've downsized my wallet to a teal Lonchamp coin-purse and a pink card-holder from Kate Spade Saturday. My favourite fossil sunglasses and Kate Spade passport holder will also accompany me. My jewellery and a few first-aid-type items live in my aqua J. Crew pouch. 

I recently acquired a S'Well bottle, which is great at keeping liquids cool — I even brewed some coffee last night and decanted into the bottle so that it was ready for my early start this morning. My iPad Mini is loaded up with e-books and my waterproof camera is also ready for some action. Then there's just my sleep mask and my amazing Bose SoundTrue headphones, which fold down really small for travel.

J'arrive, Cannes! A plus tard!

July Favourites

1. Honest Burgers' Karma Cola special. It's no secret that I think Honest Burgers' signature burger — the eponymous Honest Burger — is one of my top three burgers in London. They also do monthly specials, but the Honest Burger is so near-perfect that it takes a good 'un to tempt me away. 

This month's special is a cola-boration with Karma Cola and sounded so epic that I couldn't say no. For £11.50 (£12.50 if you order a Karma Cola too) you get an amazing burger with smoked cheddar, Karma-Cola-braised beef, pickles and chilli coleslaw. Oh, and the standard Honest rosemary chips (NB, standard isn't the right word, because they are awesome).

Unsurprisingly, the result is delicious. But if that isn't motivation enough, £1 from every burger sold is being donated to the Karma Cola Foundation, the proceeds of which go to support cola nut growers in West Africa. Everybody wins.

2. Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series. Regular readers will know that I'm a regular reader—I'm currently reading my 93rd book of the year—and I'm always looking for inspiration for the next book on my e-reader. This means that when I discover a writer I like, I tend to make my way through their back catalogue. There are five books so far in French's series about the (fictional) Dublin Murder Squad. Each book is narrated by a different detective and involves a contemporary crime that also links back to the detective's past. The narrator will often have been a minor character in the previous book.

I actually read the latest book in the series, The Secret Place, last year, but have since been working my way through in chronological order. My favourite so far is The Likeness, in which Detective Cassie Maddox goes undercover to try to work out who killed a woman who looked just like her. 

She goes to live in the house of the murdered woman—a graduate student with friends that evoke Donna Tartt's The Secret History—but finds her objectivity wavering as she becomes more involved with her doppelgänger's life. French combines compelling plots, engaging and flawed narrators, and beautiful, suspenseful prose. Be warned, though, because she isn't fond of endings where everything is tied up neatly.

3. Southerden SE1. I've walked past the tempting windows of Southerden's Bermondsey Street café and patisserie many times, but by the time I make it to Bermondsey Street on a Saturday, I've already had at least one doughnut as part of the SoLoDo running club. Luckily for me, though, Southerden also occupies one of the arches on Dockley Road, as part of the Spa Terminus Market on Saturday mornings.

It took me a while to choose among the delicious-looking sweet treats, but in the end, it had to be a doughnut and I loved the sound of the pineapple doughnut, topped with a dried pineapple ring. It didn't quite have the sinful ooziness of Bread Ahead and St John doughnuts, but it was bloomin' tasty nonetheless. Get them straight from the oven at Unit 11, Dockley Road.

4. Chinatown. I've now watched enough films on Netflix for its movie recommendations to be halfway decent. I was pleased when Chinatown popped up as a suggestion because I haven't seen it in years and I'd forgotten how much I liked it. Great performances from Faye Dunaway and especially Jack Nicholson, great plot, great twists: this is gritty noir at its best.

5. Futurama. Most of the TV shows I watch are pretty dark, or at least dramatic, so I like to keep a lighter show on the go too. After I rewatched all of Friends, I moved on to Futurama, of which I've probably seen a handful of episodes over the years but I never really got into it. 

Several of my friends are big fans, though, and I keep missing out on their jokes, so I'm binge-watching my way through the archives. A couple of seasons in, I think it's great! I'm very late to this party, I know, but if you like witty, sharp animated sci-fi shows, you won't be disappointed. It's set in the 31st century, so it doesn't matter that it first aired in 1999—it's aged very well!

The Caffeine Chronicles: London Velo (CLOSED)

UPDATE: London Velo has now closed permanently.

When a fun cocktail bar—the Job Centre—sprung up on Deptford High Street last year, I knew it would only be a matter of time before third-wave coffee weaved its way into SE8. London Velo opened at the end of May and I had been meaning to stop by, so I was grateful for the reminder in this week's Time Out, which dropped in the G-word but had nothing but praise for the new café and bike shop.

London Velo serves coffee, bagels, sandwiches and salads by day, but there are also cocktails, including the LV espresso martini, for the evening crowd (it's open until 10 pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays). The weather was atrocious on Sunday morning—it was pretty chilly and pouring with rain—but London Velo was still pleasingly bustling when I arrived.

The décor is Scandi-minimalist, with plenty of light wooden furniture with pink and grey accents (disclaimer: pink and grey is one of my favourite colour combos; my outfit even matched that day). There are plenty of tables and the café is refreshingly spacious. The one slight mis-step is that the wooden bench that lines one wall is too high for the tables, but I didn't mind moving round to the pink chair to eat my food.

There aren't any hand-brewed filter coffee options on the menu, so I ordered a flat white (£2.40) and then considered the breakfast menu. The LV breakfast (£7.50), which has all of my favourite things (salmon, egg, avo, spinach, tomato and toast) and none of my least favourites (mushrooms), sounded great, but I also knew the bagels were sourced from Brick Lane, so I ordered the bacon and avocado bagel (£5) instead. In a world of sourdough and rye, bagels feel almost retro, but I'm not complaining.

I was given a numbered bike gear to identify my table and went to take a seat. Meanwhile, the dog-in-residence, Maurice, came to say hello.

The coffee is independently sourced—at the moment, they are using Union's Bright Note blend, which I've tried before and which is sweet and nutty and works very well as a flat white. My drink was smooth, rich and tasty. The bagel was great too—it almost felt like I had been whisked away to New York—and came with a generous helping of avocado, back bacon and a side of rocket. Delicious enough to feel like a treat, but healthy enough that I didn't feel too sinful.

There is a bike mechanic and a bike shop at the back of the café and there's also a small art gallery downstairs (the info isn't currently on the London Velo site, but there are some details about the current exhibition here).

London Velo is a great addition to the often sparsely populated south-east London coffee map, and does a great job of covering the four Cs: coffee, cycling, culture and community. If you're in the SE8 area, you should drop by!

London Velo. 18 Deptford High Street, Deptford, London, SE8 4AF (Deptford Bridge DLR, or Deptford or New Cross rail).