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London especially River Lee inhabitants


Gaby Koppel

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Apologies if this post infringes any of the forum rules - I've been advised this might be a good place to find people.

 

I'd love to hear from anybody living on a boat in London for a possible lifestyle article in a newspaper or magazine.  Especially interested if you have permanent mooring/ often frequent the River Lee in Hackney.  I can go further afield, but am currently trying to avoid public transport for obvious reasons.  I am freelance and this is pre-pitch, so am looking for people with interesting/unusual stories about life afloat and a real passion for the way of life, but also maybe willing to talk about the reality rather than the dream that I imagine a lot of people come with.  

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3 minutes ago, Gaby Koppel said:

Apologies if this post infringes any of the forum rules - I've been advised this might be a good place to find people.

 

I'd love to hear from anybody living on a boat in London for a possible lifestyle article in a newspaper or magazine.  Especially interested if you have permanent mooring/ often frequent the River Lee in Hackney.  I can go further afield, but am currently trying to avoid public transport for obvious reasons.  I am freelance and this is pre-pitch, so am looking for people with interesting/unusual stories about life afloat and a real passion for the way of life, but also maybe willing to talk about the reality rather than the dream that I imagine a lot of people come with.  

 

 

Are you going to find some unusual slant ? What is going to be different with yours ?

Articles about boat living in London appear in the National press (amongst others) seemingly about every couple of weeks.

Even one on TV t'other night about living on a "million pound barge" in London.

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2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

Are you going to find some unusual slant ? What is going to be different with yours ?

 

Bearing in mind Miss Koppel's considerable journalistic experience, I'm sure she'll come up with a fresh angle.

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1 minute ago, Athy said:

Bearing in mind Miss Koppel's considerable journalistic experience, I'm sure she'll come up with a fresh angle.

 

I know of a Ted Koppel (Journalist) in South Park.

 

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38 minutes ago, Gaby Koppel said:

Apologies if this post infringes any of the forum rules - I've been advised this might be a good place to find people.

 

I'd love to hear from anybody living on a boat in London for a possible lifestyle article in a newspaper or magazine.  Especially interested if you have permanent mooring/ often frequent the River Lee in Hackney.  I can go further afield, but am currently trying to avoid public transport for obvious reasons.  I am freelance and this is pre-pitch, so am looking for people with interesting/unusual stories about life afloat and a real passion for the way of life, but also maybe willing to talk about the reality rather than the dream that I imagine a lot of people come with.  

I would suggest you try Facebook the London Boaters group

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Ignore the negative comments Gaby although it's a fair comment above about reasons for living afloat in London as a means to an end. Why Hackney? Is it because you live there? I think you'll have more success as previously mention n FB, London Boaters and a plethroa of other narrow-boating groups. 

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11 hours ago, Markinaboat said:

Ignore the negative comments Gaby although it's a fair comment above about reasons for living afloat in London as a means to an end. Why Hackney? Is it because you live there? I think you'll have more success as previously mention n FB, London Boaters and a plethroa of other narrow-boating groups. 

 

I am afraid that you will get similar responses from the London Boaters FB page. It is a very common request from which many many fairly dire articles have resulted, a few good ones though.

 

Tim

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21 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

Are you going to find some unusual slant ? What is going to be different with yours ?

Articles about boat living in London appear in the National press (amongst others) seemingly about every couple of weeks.

Even one on TV t'other night about living on a "million pound barge" in London.

Thanks for your comment. I can't tell you what the 'angle' is before I've spoken to people, as that would be imposing my own view.  I've got questions but so far not enough answers to give you a proper comment. Hopefully from speaking to people something will emerge. 

 

21 hours ago, Athy said:

Bearing in mind Miss Koppel's considerable journalistic experience, I'm sure she'll come up with a fresh angle.

Thank you for your faith in me, whether the comment is meant to be ironic or not!  Hopefully if I speak to enough people I'll get somewhere.

21 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I know of a Ted Koppel (Journalist) in South Park.

 

Character Information

Gender

Male

Race

Caucasian

Hair

Red

Age

81

Date of Birth

February 8, 1940

Occupation

Journalist, News Anchor

Religion

Judaism

Voiced by

 

 

Ted_Koppel.png

Ted Koppel is actually a real person, he is now in his 80s but was a high profile TV host in the USA.  Sadly we are not related,  when my cousin lived in America she tried to contact him but he just ignored her. 

 

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5 hours ago, Tim Lewis said:

 

I am afraid that you will get similar responses from the London Boaters FB page. It is a very common request from which many many fairly dire articles have resulted, a few good ones though.

 

Tim

Hi Tim, I understand that people are weary of it!  Luckily I'm under no pressure, as I don't have a commission and will only pitch when I get somewhere and have something fresh to offer.  Hopefully if I do manage to get something done it will be one of the few good ones.  People I have interviewed in the past are normally pretty happy with what I write.  I got the most lovely Tweet from somebody just the past week who is still delighted with the way her story was presented many years ago, and given that it was a really difficult experience of medical negligence she appreciated the empathy she thought I brought to the whole interaction. Cross fingers then...

21 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

I would suggest you try Facebook the London Boaters group

Thanks for the suggestion, will do. G

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2 minutes ago, Gaby Koppel said:

 

 

Thank you for your faith in me, whether the comment is meant to be ironic or not!  

It certainly was not.

I have plodded around the lower echelons of journalism for many years and I respect those who have reached the top rungs of the ladder.

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16 hours ago, Markinaboat said:

Ignore the negative comments Gaby although it's a fair comment above about reasons for living afloat in London as a means to an end. Why Hackney? Is it because you live there? I think you'll have more success as previously mention n FB, London Boaters and a plethroa of other narrow-boating groups. 

I can fully understand that people are wary or jaded from the tiresome gawping of often insensitive journalists, so I'm not a bit surprised and I don't blame them.  Yes I live in Hackney near the River Lee and I'm afraid I'm one of those people who walks along the towpath often admiring all the different boats, wondering what they are like inside and fantasising about selling my house and setting off on a boating adventure.  Given that it is still tricky to travel on public transport and I would like to meet people in person - albeit keeping a safe distance - I thought it might be easiest if they were in my area, where the boaters seem to be quite a supportive community. I was a bit loath to join the FB page because I don't want to be accused of masquerading as a boater for ulterior motives, but if you think that's OK I'll do so and try to be as open as possible about who I am right from the start. I am interested in people living on boats due to the high cost of London property, but I can see there are a lot of other costs involved.  Thanks for your supportive comment, I'll take my time to see what I find out.

 

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19 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Paging @magnetman ...

 

 

 

That in itself is an interesting story, I'd say.  It's not exactly the watery idyll that I was hoping to find, but it might be an interesting way into the story.  I am definitely interested in people opting to live on boats due to the high cost of housing in London, and I appreciate it could feel like a bit of a trap even if it has its compensations.  If you could point me to anybody who would be willing to talk about that aspect, I'd be grateful. 

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8 minutes ago, Gaby Koppel said:

I can fully understand that people are wary or jaded from the tiresome gawping of often insensitive journalists, so I'm not a bit surprised and I don't blame them.  Yes I live in Hackney near the River Lee and I'm afraid I'm one of those people who walks along the towpath often admiring all the different boats, wondering what they are like inside and fantasising about selling my house and setting off on a boating adventure.  Given that it is still tricky to travel on public transport and I would like to meet people in person - albeit keeping a safe distance - I thought it might be easiest if they were in my area, where the boaters seem to be quite a supportive community. I was a bit loath to join the FB page because I don't want to be accused of masquerading as a boater for ulterior motives, but if you think that's OK I'll do so and try to be as open as possible about who I am right from the start. I am interested in people living on boats due to the high cost of London property, but I can see there are a lot of other costs involved.  Thanks for your supportive comment, I'll take my time to see what I find out.

 

I had some dealings with the residents of Kingsland Basin in Hackney about 10 years ago.  At the time they were setting up an allotment barge which I believe is still there.  You might try getting in touch with them http://chug.org.uk/

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4 minutes ago, Gaby Koppel said:

I am interested in people living on boats due to the high cost of London property

 

 

That is one of the main issues - (not all) people living on boats are simply looking for affordable accomodation, they would be happy if it was shed in someones garden, a caravan in HydePark or a boat.

 

They are not boaters and in many cases would rather they were not living in a boat and the problems that gives them.

 

You will get a very, very different response from boaters who are living in a boat from choice, than from someone living in a boat because it is all they can afford - in many cases the boats used as cheap housing  are at the end of their life and that again means that the facilities may not be ideal.

 

It maybe intersting to actually interview 'both ends' of the scale and make the comparison between living on a boat from choice as compared to living on a boat because they 'have no other options left'.

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