I never see boats on the boating lake. So armed with paper boats and a man who used to sail boats on the lake years ago (A.K.A. My Dad) I set out to reclaim it.
My boats weren't that sophisticated and, as far as sailing goes, they were a bit of a failure. But they floated. Almost. And resisted being attacked by seagulls.

They were nothing in comparison to the boats that dad always told me he used to make. Mine didn't have sails. They didn't have sophistacted motors. They didn't have much.
They certainly weren't a patch on the first boat I've seen at the lake for ages. A radio-controlled motor-boat which turned up about half and hour after we did. And proceeded to show off. (see video, left)

I talked to the guy controlling it, who was a newcomer to the Common's boating lake, and he wasn't too impressed. He told me how dangeous weeds are to a small propeller, and how the lake is full of rubbish and shopping trolleys.

So, my aims to re-introduce boating to a boating lake were somewhat over-shadowed by someone with a boat that wasn't made out of paper.

• Find out more about the history of The Boating Lake
• See all the images from the afternoon