I Am Looking For A Mooring In The South Of London. Can You Help Me?

[system 4-50]

 

 

I am sure most of us are on boats because we are dreamers and because we have, at some stage, glossed over the practicalities. for instance I could be surprised the north pole was discovered - who would want to go there, the cold, no food etc etc.

 

You are at least encouraging.

 

I am sure if this was a conversation in real life Phil would at least be polite rather than take out his backache on someone asking innocent questions.

Pots & kettles.

[blackrose]

Possibly, though she wouldn't be the first.

 

Not the first and not the last...

[Dave Clinton]

No, after I picked myself up off the floor I reached the same conclusion.

 

ETA

To keep CP happy and be positive Brighton Marina is about as close as you will get a mooring directly south of London

your edit presumably to add 'directly', the Medway is a little East but a good place to start looking.

[GUMPY]

your edit presumably to add 'directly', the Medway is a little East but a good place to start looking.

No the edit was the whole line as indicated by the ETA (edited to add) that preceded it.

One could add Shoreham, or any of the south coast harbours/marinas, but Brighton has the best/ quickest transport links.

[MtB]

Another point is a boat doesn't have to be in the water to live on it.

 

I was once driving along happily miles from any waterways and I glimpsed what I looked like a dutch barge in a field through a gap in the hedge. I stopped tha van, turned around and yep, a 70ft(ish) DB chocked up in the field with a car, washing line shed and a load of kids bikes surrounding it.

 

I was so surprised I forgot to take a photo.

 

Anyway the point is, the OP could rent themselves a bit of industrial land in Croydon and live there quite a while I reckon before getting a patrol notice.

[Jim Batty]

Well, there's the Royal Military Canal south-ish of London: http://www.royalmilitarycanal.com/pages/index.asp

 

Looks quite nice, if a little overdeveloped.

 

 

[Richard Fairhurst]

There is, of course, the Basingstoke Canal, which has a long history of residential use at the eastern end and perhaps counts as London suburbia. According to the Basingstoke Canal Authority website:

 

Residential moorings are not allowed on the Basingstoke Canal. Exceptions to this are the existing houseboat moorings between Locks 1 and 3 at Woodham. These are houseboat moorings only, i.e. not for cruising boats. There may be vacancies for these which are administered by Surrey County Council. Contact Surrey County Council Estates department.

 

(my emphasis)

[Peter X]

As someone who enjoys canal boating but is currently rather tied to Croydon (not in South London by my definition which is the postal area, but just outside it), I feel the OP's pain that apart from the Surrey Docks (so called because they once gave access to the Croydon Canal I believe) and Deptford Creek the only waterway we have is the bit in Betts Park. The other canal which connected the docks to Camberwell and Peckham was also lost; no connection to the Peckham Spring.

 

The OP might wish to consider commuting in to reach a destination in South London, e.g. the Medway for Bromley, the Sussex coast for Croydon, and the (probably limited and expensive) Basingstoke Canal or posh stretch of the Thames for SW London, but they'd all involve some serious travelling time. Even a journey from the Paddington Arm to some parts of South London would take quite some time on crowded public transport.

 

So let's explore MtB's idea of parking a boat on some otherwise unwanted bit of industrial land, which it had independently occurred to me yesterday might be a goer. If it's just cheap living in the centre of the universe (my definition of that is being within a 3 mile radius of Selhurst Park) you're after, and it's not floating your boat that floats your boat, it's not such a bonkers idea. There used to be a lot of derelict light industrial land and buildings in the area, especially along the Purley Way, which is basically the Croydon bypass on the A23 to Brighton, but in recent years a lot of that has been developed for retail sheds, and lately for blocks of flats. However there are still some derelict little pockets of land which may be cheap to buy or rent because a developer can't get planning permission for housing, but where the permitted use might allow you to store and repair a boat. You could keep up the illusion of not living there for a long time; just make up a mix tape of DIY noises (power tools, hammering, etc.) and play a bit when someone goes by. Paint the boat to make it look like a job in progress, artfully arrange some boat parts on the ground, black out the windows at night, and if you must wear a suit to a job in the City, be sure to change into scruffy clothes somewhere halfway home...

[Peter X]

I didn't think there were any farms at all in South London, but a little surfing has revealed this:

http://www.londontown.com/LondonInformation/Sights_and_Attractions/Deen_City_Farm/39b1/

Their map even shows that they appear to be alongside the mighty River Wandle. Who's laughing at your farmer's mooring dream in London now?

[Phil Ambrose]

 

What a nasty little sneer.

 

Why on earth shouldn't the OP float an idea and see what reactions she gets. Up to your holier-than-thou post most treated it with respect. But no, you obviously started boating knowing everything, never had any off-the-wall ideas.

 

What a boring little life you must lead that your idea of entertainment is to rubbish someone's ideas.

 

Incidentally; since when has asking a question on an internet forum not come under the heading of 'research'?

That was not a sneer but just telling it how it is.

Phil

[George94]

 

What a nasty little sneer.

 

Why on earth shouldn't the OP float an idea and see what reactions she gets. Up to your holier-than-thou post most treated it with respect. But no, you obviously started boating knowing everything, never had any off-the-wall ideas.

 

What a boring little life you must lead that your idea of entertainment is to rubbish someone's ideas.

 

Incidentally; since when has asking a question on an internet forum not come under the heading of 'research'?

 

I don't think Mr Ambrose was saying that the OP shouldn't float an idea. He was talking about floating a boat, and suggesting that the OP should find out where to do so before buying it. That seems very sage advice to me.

 

I think that when you read your post again you may feel that you have slightly over-reacted.

[Lady Muck]

Am I the only one who thinks this might be a wind up ?

 

No it gets asked by noobs on Facebook about once a month.

And they can get very upset when they realise their dream of a South London mooring is just that - a dream. Add to that people who think they can cc the Thames tideway and spend 14 days moored up by the houses of parliament (and even put that in their first airbnb ad), people who think that they can just arrive at Little Venice and 'get' a permanent mooring instantly. Someone actually showed up at LV CRT office with this request.