| Regents Park - Boating Lake (picture by Peter Watts) |  |
Regents Park - Boating Lake
Photographer Description of Regents Park - Boating Lake
This panorama shows the view over the Boating Lake in Regents Park. The panorama was taken near to the Clarence Gate entrance to the park, the nearest entrance to Baker Street. There are normally loads of swans, ducks and geese here, and it is quite possible to feed them by hand.Regents Park - Boating Lake - Further Information
Regents Park (officially called 'The Regents Park') covers 487 acres of central London. In the park is a Boating Lake where you can hire a rowing boat and relax on the waters among the swans, ducks and geese. The Boathouse Restaurant near to Hanover Gate, and the Garden Café in the Queen Mary Gardens both provide refreshments. This photo was taken at the other end of the Boating Lake near to Clarence Gate.The southern edge of the Boating Lake is lined with a walkway from which it is possible to feed the birds, which will often come out of the water to take bread from the hand.You can squat down and look a full grown swan eye to eye as it takes food from you. In fact, the number of beaks reaching for your hand can become intimidating.
The boating lake also plays an important role in conservation. The north-east section of the lake is fenced off and contains some of the 90 species of ornamental waterfowl (ducks and the like) that can be found in Regents Park. Since the 1980s, all the waterfowl for the other Royal Parks are bread at The Regents Park and a Nature Study Centre has been established. There are currently some 650 birds on the lake including about 260 pairs of ducks from the Breeding Centre in Regents Park.
Herons are common in this part of Regents Park, especially in the early evening, or standing in rows along the edge of the lake in the morning. Whilst this puts pressure on the aquatic life within the park, the herons are a welcome spectacle. Later on in the evening, especially in the summer, it is possible to catch sight of bats flying about the lights at dusk as they chase their own prey.
Regents Park and the boating lake are close to the Sherlock Holmes Museum, and Madam Tussauds. If you are visiting London then passing through Regents Park and the Boating Lake is the best way to get to London Zoo. Access to both the Sherlock Holmes Museum and the London Zoo is free with the London Pass.
Travel Directions and Getting There:
Baker Street (Bakerloo, Central, Metropolitan, Jubilee, Hammersmith & City lines).