Lakeside Nature Reserve

Lakeside Nature Reserve lies in Church End, Finchley, within the London Borough of Barnet. It covers a small area recognised for its wildlife value. The reserve centres on a pond built in the late 1890s by Peter Edmund Kay. He made it to hold rainwater for commercial greenhouses at Claigmar Vineyard, a large market garden of the time. The pond still has a fountain and is bordered by plants such as water mint, gypsywort and purple-loosestrife. Waterfowl nest on a small island, and dragonflies appear each summer.

The site is not open to the public but can be seen from a footpath off Strathmore Gardens. The pond and its surroundings remain largely undisturbed. The reserve shows how a former market garden’s water system now supports wildlife. Peter Edmund Kay’s reservoir has become a quiet haven for birds and insects. Its late 19th-century origins link it to the area’s horticultural past.

Visitors walk along Strathmore Gardens and look across to the reserve. They see the pond’s fountain and the plants growing at its edge. Waterfowl can be watched on the island. Dragonflies hover over the water in warm months. The view is framed by the footpath and the surrounding streets. The reserve offers a small glimpse of nature within an urban setting.