The Hollow Ponds - Leytonstone

A sojourn beside the still waters of the Hollow Ponds in Leytonstone recently celebrated in song by Damon Albarn.
Music: Bleak House - Biology Slides

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Please watch: "Walk from St.Paul's through Islington to Highgate"
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[anthonyhatfull]

Back in the early 1950`s an enterprising man opened a refreshment hut by the smaller round pond on the Snaresbrook side of the Hollow Ponds.It became very popular and he did great trade. he even got in lorry loads of sand to make a beach, And we used to spend wonderful days there.Then a couple of years later came the big POLIO scare.People were afraid to go swimming, so he went out of business.Later that pond became the place for model boats, and captive line model aircraft on the open spaces behind.What a shame the Lido closed.We used to queue for ages to get in and spent whole days there.We loved to sit on top of the fountains until the attendants chased us off. It was great for us kid`s who couldnt afford to go up-market at the Kingfisher pool near the Napier Arms.
There used to be underground public toilets surrounded by trees on the Wipps Cross roundabout. Not certain why they were shut down.To discourage cottaging perhaps?

[Aaron-ldlu]

This is pretty close to my school. I always come here, if I get a long break, and just enjoy the beauty of it. It’s been snowing recently and the whole pond was frozen over and it looked beautiful

[Richardsrailway]

Was there yesterday, took my daughter there for the first time . A local treasure .I was born in Leytonstone and lived there from 1974-2002 . It has changed so much, I lived on Claremont road originally, before that awful M11 road was built, we grew up with old dolly Watson, bearmans, Percy ingles, . Our family DR was Peter ingles who had a big Victorian house on Chadwick road just off of whipps cross road . The hollow ponds is a beautiful place, as mentioned my daughter loved it, and it was a first for myself even though I lived and grew up in Leytonstone for the best part of my life . My mum recalls the old lido and near the cutting where the central line runs under whipps cross road, there used to be pre fab houses .

[SMILEVIDEOTRAINS]

back in time John. we are all 7 years older now.. lovely presentation. thank you

[zohaf]

i'm a local and I must say I walk around the pond all year round. I've always thought it's so taken for granted. Love feeding the birds to, thank you for sharing

[mumsew]

I used to go fishing there with my Dad, and remember well the sweltering summer of 1976. Sitting by the pond was also a magical solace during my childhood between visiting my Mum at Whipps Cross Hospital after school and catching the bus home to make dinner for my little sister and Daddy. Walthamstow is full of peaceful, green and pleasant places to restore the soul. I feel so glad to have been brought up there. That said, I have been heard to say "You can't scare me, I grew up in Walthamstow!"

[thestudyoffur]

another in a series of wonderful hikes in the landscape

[peterconnell]

Caught some great tench there, in around 1986...float fished bread just about 2 ft down on the bottom, a wonderful Brace of 5lbs each!
Fantastic times!!!

[paulheinrich]

I live two mins on the pond.... I love it, you described my feelings literally every time I’m there.... I’m in to photography and sunset is the best time to take tranquil photos.... love to hangout with you for photography.

[ianbutton]

Hi great video brought back lots of memories
I grew up in the area and remember hollow ponds with great affection
I particularly remember the summer of 76 not a lot of boating was done if i remember correctly because the ponds virtually dried up and also the water was used to fight the forest fires that also hit the forest
Anyway thank for bringing back some great childhood memories and best wishes with all your future endeavours

[scarletwestend]

Been really enjoying your videos. The music is always well chosen. Hollow Ponds is one of my favourite places in London.

[babysnakes]

I miss taking out the rowing boats over "The Hollers!"

[damienclarkson]

I really enjoyed this mate. I live by Lloyds park and love running around and generally just hanging out at Hollow Ponds, especially on those spring and summer nights you described, simply a beautiful place.

[jimjam]

Hollow Ponds were also a great place in the winter for boys- walking on the (creaking ) ice, literally at the risk of our lives as we did not realise how deep the pond was and going home with a "bootfull"

[martinlawrence]

Thanks John, chanced upon your videos on Youtube, and am loving them. A while back I got into the idea of urban walking and psychogeography through watching Will Self videos as research for a novel I'm writing. Fantastic stuff!

[athoshadjiantoni]

The Hollow Ponds is a nice place to relax
and enjoy.

[stephenport]

Good tench and pike fishing back in the 90s with the odd mid double carp

[X-]

Nice to see them with water, during the early early 90s they did drain them for some reason. I used to go their with friends and fish, also i used to cut through the second forest to go IIford yes i walked from Leytonstone to Ilford! This is why I love your videos because it reminds me how much walking i did in my younger years

[martin]

Hi..
I spent Most of my Childhood in the Hollow Ponds, You got something Very Wrong in this Video..
When You said, " I imagine everyone was Jumping in there in 1976", Well....there wasn't.. because there was No Water in it that year...
It was just Mud, also the Forest has never really Recovered from that Heatwave in 76' & 77' also there was the Other Pond that disappeared that Year at the Rising Sun Pub, it was a Massive body of Water that had Canoes on it & the Water was also Absolutely Full of Great Crested Newts, which in those days were not protected so we used to catch them and keep them as pets..
The Forest was Much More dense & had a totally different look because it was so Diverse in Fauna & Wildlife, For many years after the Only plants growing were Gorse & Grass & it's not that different today which is a crying shame...
I remember that it was Very usual to see Jay's & Birds of Prey Nesting & raising Chicks, there's nothing like that Now except in Very Rare circumstances..
SHAME..
Also of Course it was the Beginning of the End for Both the Leyton Lido & Larkswood Outdoor Swimming Pool because they wasn't allowed to fill them in the two years of Heatwave & they got into a state of disrepair unfortunately NO Criminally in my Opinion...
So Sad but Lots of Happy Memories all around that area catching slow Worms & Grass Snakes..saw an Adder one day that was at least 5' Long, My old Jack Russel Found Him actually & it Frightened the Life out of me because there had been a Lot of Adder Bites that year (76)..
He was OK though, Just Sunning Himself on the Path..
Very Beautiful but Frightening to a 12 year old on a Bike with His Dog!
LoL
Yeah, there was No Where to Swim in the Heatwave...everywhere Dried out and Burned..
The Whole Forest KEPT catching fire due to the Victorian Bottle Dumps that were all over the Forest..
When Bushes Burnt Down you'd see Tons of Stoneware & Bottles sticking out of the ground!
Unfortunately for Many Years (Possibly Hundreds) the woods there have been used as a Dumping ground..

[richardowen]

As kids we used to taunt the residents of the boys boarding school, which is now the Crown Court, through the fence. We were horrible kids.