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People across England took advantage of the lastest lifting of strict rules as they flocked to the ponds in the 32-hectare green space in north London. On Thursday, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said outdoor pools would be able to reopen from Saturday.

The move will be followed by the reopening of indoor pools, gyms and other sports facilities from July 25.

The four outdoor swimming facilities in the heath reopened for early morning sessions.

Swimmers were seen jumping into the ladies’, men’s and mixed ponds as well as the nearby Parliament Hill lido.

Visitors noticed several changes, with 85 people allowed in Parliament Hill lido at a time, and only 20 to 30 swimmers per session in the heath’s other pools due to their smaller size.

Staggered sessions are also in place to allow time for cleaning between groups.

Access to the heath’s pools was also via online-booking.

Some people who had hoped to be among the first to return to the ponds, complained that they were unable to access the website to book slots.

Lifeguards working on Hampstead Heath have received specialist training with adaptations to allow them to maintain social distancing if they need to assist swimmers in the water, the City of London Corporation said.

Anne Fairweather, chair of the City of London Corporation’s Hampstead Heath, said she found the lockdown “tough” given that she could not swim.

She said: “I love swimming outdoors and it’s been really hard these last few months, especially with such glorious weather.

“With the announcement at 5 o’clock on Thursday, we really rushed to get this out and get going.

“The website has been really popular, as you can imagine, so we’re just testing out those facilities, making sure we’re happy with the way it’s running and then we can easily add in more sessions.”

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However, many other outdoor pools did not reopen on Saturday despite the easing of restrictions.

Everyone Active, which manages five outdoor pools on behalf of local authorities in Plymouth, Hemel Hempstead, Stroud and Ashby-de-la-Zouche, said its facilities will remain shut in the meanwhile.

Hyde Park’s Serpentine lido is to remain closed to members of the public.

Last week the pool reopened exclusively to members of the Serpentine swimming club.

Charlton Lido in south-east London was one of the venues which welcomed a small number of swimmers on Saturday.

Management had rolled out a number of new measures, including increased cleaning routines and an online booking system.

Jessica Walker and Nicola Foster were two of the swimmers happy to be back at the lido – and they came prepared wearing floral swimming caps and pearls, and each carrying an inflatable floating flamingo.

Ms Walker said she felt “overjoyed” to be back after their last swim on March 20 and said the new safety process had worked smoothly.

She added: “We’ve been heartbroken ever since because we swam every single morning and we were just in a very good place psychically and mentally, and then lockdown happened.

“There are no two happier women here today. It’s been so good to be back – it’s been better than I imagined.”

Ms Foster added: “We have been quite giddy with excitement, actually.”

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