The lake in north croydon - South Norwood Lake and Grounds - was built as a reservoir to feed the croydon canal.
There used to be boat trips on it - the lake, not the canal - back in the day, and you see the rusted remains of the lift that was used to get the boat in the lake.
There is now a sailing club, and it’s pretty impressive to see the sailing dinghies (or whatever they are) out and about at weekends.
There is also lots of waterfowl there, for those who enjoy that kind of thing, including a bunch of baby Egyptian geese (seems a bit late in the year for them…) and herons and grebe and coots and moorhen and occasional swans (they don’t usually survive the fucking anglers who leave fishing line in which the swans get tangled) as well as varieties of ducks.
And there is a bit of stagnant canal in Betts Park. Mostly renowned for knife attacks, I am afraid.
Can’t think of a pub near either of those, unfortunately.
But there remain a few pubs which mark where the canal used to be.
We once had an Urban meet up in one of those - the Ship - not long before it closed down.
There is one called the Jolly Sailor which has reopened recently, if anyone wants to give that a go. Walking distance from both the lake and Betts Park. Close to Norwood Junction station (that line used to be the canal). When the station first opened it was called the Jolly Sailor.