Scratch

Do you get some sort of cheap thrill out of being incredibly pompous?

Used to live there as well. Service when something went wrong was abysmal, depressing Soviet style development, absolutely nothing to do in the locality. And yes it does take an hour and a half to get to Central London. The restaurant/bar was a bit of a joke, but I do miss the friendly Tamils in the shop. Mostly decent neighbours mind.

The Hammar type jackets should not be necessary, so would advise buying the standard auto type with the paper pellet. Also, you will need to consider the buoyancy rating. Most adults will only need a 150 Newton rated jacket, but more rotund individuals might require one rated to 275 Newtons. Would not advise buying second hand unless you know what signs of wear and tear to look for around the bladder and firing mechanism. Plastimo offer a reasonably priced Auto jacket, but for longer life consider Crewsaver or Spinlock. This is one item where you do get what you pay for.

I switched one of these oil filled rads on the other week. It promptly went 'pop' and dumped boiling hot oil all over the floor and filled the air with acrid smoke. So, er, no...not a good idea.

Anyone familiar with the mighty Half Man Half Biscuit will appreciate this scrawl by the canal in Hackney Wick

This remains to be seen. The other difficulty will be in providing a slipway which will be suitable for the size of craft involved and the difficulties in manouvering

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draw_dock It's right next to Putney Bridge on the southern Embankment. Only place to launch boats of a reasonable size anywhere on that stretch. They are proposing to replace it post-works, but the design is not practical, having most likely been dreamed up by someone with no understanding of the challenges involved in launching these kinds of craft.

The new super sewer is causing quite a few ructions along the tidal Thames at present. Thames Water seem to have made a hash of the consultation and are proposing taking the drawdock at Putney Bridge out of action for the duration of the works as well as digging an enourmous tunnel right next to Barnes Wetland centre. The previous poster who suggested that this may be a PR exercise is right on the money. That said, it is true that quite a lot of raw sewage is dumped directly into the river during periods of high rainfall, and the Victorian sewers do require replacement. I think what irks folk is the way the project is being handled

Nope, the following is an excerpt from the blurb about the berth in question.... "The size of the vacant berth is restricted to enable neighbouring boats to navigate in and out of their berths" Does that sound reasonable?? Surely BW are shooting themselves in the proverbial......

Thanks for all your input, ladels and jellyspoons. If this is the BW Brentford Island, are the neighbours now ok?? I seem to remember some teething problems with neighbours complaining about people living aboard and burning wood etc. Other than that, I would be quite happy to pay a reasonable sum to moor there. Glad someone mentioned Brentford Dock, saved me wasting my time (although it looked a bit grim anyway)

Thanks Tony for taking the time to reply. I am really interested in something roughly between Putney and Hampton/Thames Ditton, maybe a little further if the mooring is right. This does include Brentford but not as far as Chertsey. I have been looking at a few of the 'Aits' on Google Earth and there seem to be quite a few boats, but I am unaware as to the status of these. Info is quite hard to come by...