Friday, February 12, 2021

The Regent's Park and Queen Mary's Garden in London

The Regent's Park is about a 15 minute walk from Camden Market and is London's largest outdoor sports area.  The park was named after Prince Regent, who later became King George IV, and covers 395 acres (1.6 sq. km, 160 hectares), including a boating lake, an open air theater, and the London Zoo.

We enter the park through the Gloucester Gate, passing the Mathilda Drinking Fountain, an 1878 statue of a milkmaid astride a rocky grotto, presented to the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain Association, by Mathilda, wife of a local churchwarden.

Mathilda Drinking Fountain

We first pass by large fields, some full of soccer enthusiasts.


 Fields and paths in The Regent's Park

In the center of the park, Queen Mary's Gardens, named after the wife of King George V, contains over 12,000 roses of 85 varieties, along with a begonia garden, a delphinium collection, a Mediterranean collection, and beautifully maintained shrubberies and paths.



 Queen Mary's Garden

Alongside the garden, the Boating Lake offers great views, walks, and boats for rent.


 The Boating Lake

More paths through formal gardens lead us to the tennis courts and the York Gate into Westminster and serious London buildings and traffic.



 More paths and gardens

 Park gates

Back in the city

What a great, tranquil oasis in the busy city!

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