[Y/N] Studio vision for the ‘Lido Line’ came second in an architecture competition in 2012

IT may be hard to imagine now, but in a few short months the weather will be warm again and the canal towpath from Camden Town to King’s Cross and Angel will be packed with people watching open air films and picnicking by the locks – although never, ever, taking a dip in the water.

But if Copenhagen, Munich, Vienna and Amsterdam can make their rivers and canals clean enough to swim in, why can’t we?

As anyone who has gazed into the canal’s shiny depths of crushed cans will know, the water is full of litter, as well as bacteria which can cause infections like leptospirosis – also known as Weil’s disease – caused by rat urine getting into your system.

But it might not be as bad as it seems, and it has been claimed the canals are probably cleaner now than at any time in their history.

“It is swimmable,” said Nicola Baird, stand-up paddle boarding coach at Islington Boat Club and author of Not That Deep, a novel set on the waterways.

“The good thing about the canals is that water companies are not allowed to release sewage into them, which means that a canal is often cleaner than a river.

“If you do kayaking or paddleboarding, it’s fun to fall in the canal. As long as you don’t drink too much of it and you wash your hands afterwards, you can just treat it like any other water.”

The downside is that canals do not flow freely like rivers and pollution takes time to disperse, adding an element of risk no matter how clean the water. The boats and barges would be another obstacle, explained Ian Shacklock, chair of the Friends of Regent’s Canal.

“The canal is a shipping lane so even if it were the cleanest water in the world it wouldn’t be appropriate for people to swim in it,” he said.

Nicola Baird from the Islington Boat Club

Any swimming would have to be in one of the canal’s basins, he added, because most of the waterway is too narrow, but then dippers would still have to share space with the Islington Boat Club at City Road Basin, or permanent boat moorings in King’s Cross.

In Helsinki and Berlin, open air swimming pools have been built that float on the water’s surface.

Christopher Arthey wants this to happen in London and his project “Swim City Basin” aims to bring it to our canal waters. “Why have we not got one of these in the UK?” he said. “At the moment, public access to the City Road basin is fairly limited to people who are using the boat club. That’s great, but I think if there’s a pool there it would further increase use.”

Mr Shacklock retains concerns. “Any structure that would encroach on the open water is actively discouraged,” he said.

“We fought like mad to have that water, we don’t want to lose any more.”

He is referring to the 1970s Save the Basin campaign, when advocates fought and won against plans to concrete over the open water by City Road.

Look back through the more recent history books and you’ll find Alex Smith, director of architecture firm [Y/N] Studio, who came up with the idea of a “Lido Line” in 2012 – a swimming lane hugging the bank of the canal.

Mr Smith’s idea came second in a competition to imagine a London version of New York’s High Line park.

“We had just had the Olympics and there was a real spirit of ‘we can do anything’,” he said.

In theory, the Lido Line would leave enough space for boaters to go about their business as usual while Londoners swam to work up the canal. “The world felt more positive then… anything was possible,” said Mr Smith. “I don’t think wars and pandemics inspire a positive outlook in the same way.”

Tempting as it might be on a hot day, the Canal and River Trust told the Tribune that a lot of effort goes into strongly discouraging people from swimming for safety reasons. So don’t be too hasty about jumping in.