An early morning regular swimmer swims solitary lengths at Brockwell (Brixton) Lido before crowds arrive. After a 6.30am summer opening time, this Londoner likes to escape the crowds and unwind during a warm spell of weather and before another day of city heat. She swims many lengths of breast stroke (American crawl) in the chilly waters of this unheated pool. The Lido is a magnet, an oasis, for city dwellers to escape, if only for an hour from the pressures of fast urban life. Many enjoy the benefits of outdoor bathing and the friendship of meeting old friends. In the centre, a mother helps her young daughter up from the cool morning water before another hot day in August. Brockwell Lido is a large, open-air swimming pool in Brockwell Park, Herne Hill, London. It opened in July 1937, closed in 1990 and after a local campaign was re-opened in 1994.