A 285m-long swimming and kayaking lake in south London is set to open on 20 July, creating a natural recreation area and putting the south-east suburb on the map for outdoor swimming enthusiasts.
Created in 1800 by the owner of Beckenham Place Mansion, John Cator, but filled in during the 20th century, Beckenham lake has been restored as part of a £4.9m project funded by the Heritage Lottery and the Mayor of London’s greener city fund to transform Beckenham Place Park.
The park was previously home to an 18-hole public golf course which closed in 2016. In its place, new playgrounds, a BMX track, a cafe in former stables and a wooded wetland habitat have been introduced and tens of thousands of trees planted. The mansion, previously used as the golf club house, opened to the public in 2016 with a bar, cafe, yoga and craft classes and a record shop.
Councillor Sophie McGeevor, cabinet member for the environment at Lewisham council, said the transformation of the park created a much-need green space for the local communities.. “A lot of people didn’t realise the park was publicly accessible when it was a golf course. It was mostly used by old, white males. We wanted a space that appealed to the whole community - 65% of whom are BAME.
“There is something symbolic about bringing back a Georgian lake that was created for the benefit of a private stately home and making it fully accessible to the people.”
The lake, complete with jetty and sloping beach, is open to all swimmers over the age of eight although they will have to book in advance and pay before jumping in. Younger children can paddle for free. Kayaking and other water sports will also be on offer.
Figures from Sport England show a massive rise in outdoor swimming across the UK. Between November 2016 and November 2017, 260,500 people said they had swum outside in the last 28 days; the following year that figure almost doubled to 490,660.
Oliver Pitt, a director at the Outdoor Swimming Society (OSS), puts the increase in interest down to a growing awareness of wild swimming as an activity. “We’ve been beating the drum for outdoor swimming since 2006 but more people are talking about the physical and mental health benefits in the media too so it is much more visible.”
Beckenham’s lake is one of several open water spaces opening across the UK as local groups campaign for access to lakes and reservoirs owned by water companies and the restoration of former swimming lakes. In south-west London Swim Wimbledon is in talks with Merton council about opening Wimbledon park lake to swimmers in 2020 and in Essex locals are campaigning to bring back Maldon Prom marine lake. The OSS set up a group in 2013 to help increase the amount of inland water available for recreational swimming.
• As of 24 July, the swimming lake has been temporarily closed because of the higher than expected numbers using it during the heatwave. Lewisham council has announced it is putting up temporary fencing so it can better regulate the numbers using the lake.
