A PLEASURE beach popular in Edwardian times could be reinstated as part of a major project to restore neglected parts of Bishop's Park and Fulham Palace.
Alternatives are being drawn up to rejuvenate the derelict boating lake in the riverside park.
The lake could be flanked by beach volleyball courts and new landscaping to again attract large summer crowds.
The ambitious plans by Hammersmith and Fulham Council are dependent on securing £3.5million from the Heritage Lottery Fund to bring the park up to scratch.
They came as English Heritage last week published its first comprehensive 'heritage at risk' register, which lists eight of the borough's old structures - including two in the grounds of Fulham Palace - as being in urgent need of attention.
A grant has already been made to restore the walled gardens of the palace grounds, including a bothy, or shelter.
Both are said to be 'near to collapse' and in need of 'substantial repairs', along with the endangered porter's lodge at the north-east entrance.
Other ideas mooted by the council include restoring a stone bridge across the pond in Bishop's Park, improving the cafe and extending the stable block to create a new education facility.
Residents' services leader Paul Bristow said: "Both Bishop's Park and Fulham Palace grounds are of huge historic importance to the borough.
"These plans will see them re-affirmed as jewels in the borough's crown."
A series of moving sculptures were also unveiled last week in the botanical gardens of Fulham Palace, built into the stumps of hurricane-damaged trees using precision-engineered metal.
Created by the renowned sculptor Peter Logan, they are designed to 'dance' in the slightest wind and will be there for one year so people can see the work through the changing seasons.
The other buildings classed as 'at risk' by English Heritage are the abandoned former Odeon on Shepherd's Bush Green; a boarded-up, mid-19th Century cottage in St Peter's Square; Hammersmith; five memorials in St Mary's Cemetery, off Harrow Road; the vacant former County Court in North End Road, Fulham; an 18th Century house in Lower Mall, Hammersmith, and tombs and monuments at St Paul's Churchyard in Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith.
* To see or comment on the council's plans visit www. citizenspace.com/local/lbhf/ BishopsPark2.
