On a recent trip to London, my head was spinning at the rate of development in the Nine Elms area as I remembered it being a bit of a wasteland on my last visit. Seeing rows of gleaming tower blocks made me feel like a ‘country bumpkin’ lost in the big city. I was then told to look up in the sky at the floating pool seemingly suspended in mid-air. This was ‘The Sky Pool’ which is available exclusively to residents of Embassy Gardens in Nine Elms. https://www.embassygardens.com/sky-pool/

I wouldn’t mind swimming in the Sky Pool and I can only imagine that the views and the sensation would be interesting. However, I expect I’d be more than happy in Parliament Hill Lido or several other accessible pools in London open to the public. The Sky Pool is symbolic of the disparities across the country for accessible swimming and income and calls to mind a recent Guardian article which states that the average London salary is 68% higher than in Burnley in Lancashire: https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2025/jan/20/average-salary-london-burnley-regional-inequality

While I personally do not want to begrudge Embassy Garden residents their magnificent pool, it is hard to come to terms with the bleaker realities of the loss of almost 400 pools in the UK since 2010: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/mar/12/england-has-lost-almost-400-swimming-pools-since-2010

So, yes, let there be Sky Pools but what are the chances of making these accessible for all?