Last view of lake before regeneration

Flora Lindsay, left, and Lucy Whitton, both 21 and from Ripon, walk around the lake at Studley Royal before work starts next week to inspect, drain and clean it.

The scheme is the most ambitious conservation project in 20 years at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, to restore the lake at the Word Heritage Site, near Ripon, to its former 18th century glory.

The project, which is being undertaken by the National Trust, includes removing the silt island in the middle of the lake and will restore the views around the garden to those the designer, John Aislabie, intended.