Latest news with #houseboat
BBC News
02-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Headlines: Houseboat fire and Frome trees vandalised
Here's our daily pick of stories from across local websites in the West of England, and interesting content from social media on Monday 2 June. Our pick of local website stories A dramatic picture has been released of the residential houseboat which caught fire while cruising along the river in Lechlade.A young otter cub has made a "remarkable recovery" after being rushed to the RSPCA's West Hatch centre in Somerset with a respiratory Police and Crime Commissioner has supported calls to make cannabis a Class A drug. Recategorizing it would align it with other illicit substances like heroin and cocaine.A key road in Bridgwater town centre will be shut for two months as the delivery of the town's 'Celebration Mile' continues. Our top three from yesterday What to watch on social media A 'Welcome to Margate' sign has appeared on the road to nowhere in Yate, suggesting the deserted stretch is possibly being used as a filming and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service have issued a reminder that most vapes contain hidden lithium batteries, which can spark fires if crushed.'Mindless' vandals have chopped down two young trees in Victoria Park in Frome and littered the grass with charred book pages.
The Sun
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Houseboat described as ‘one of the best homes' on Channel 4's Amazing Spaces STILL up for sale – as price tag slashed
A HOUSEBOAT lauded as 'one of the best homes' by Channel 4 star is up for sale and has been spotted at a fraction of the price. Amazing Spaces presenter George Clarke previously raved about the converted barge, which has seen its price tag slashed by £175,000. 7 7 7 The converted 1960s houseboat, which is spread across two levels, is moored up in Penton Hook Marina in Chertsey, Surrey. It was initially on the market for £750,000 but is now being sold at a bargain £525,000. It comes after owners Rohan Tully and ex-wife Christina struggled to secure a sale for the famous vessel. In 2020, the couple appeared on George Clarke's Amazing Spaces on Channel 4. They explained how they had given up their rental property in Paddington, central London, to renovate the boat. George, who presents the show, called the houseboat 'one of the best homes I've ever seen'. The pair initially looked to flog their home through an Omaze raffle after others sellers had success through the same route. And when that didn't work out, the couple managed to secure a private buyer for the houseboat. But the sale fell through when the interested party pulled out, choosing to move abroad and pursue a different opportunity. Love Island's Laura Anderson gives tour of her HUGE new mansion with en-suite rooms and garden so big it could be a park Now, Rohan has decided to cut down the price. Speaking to Luxury Property News, Rohan said: 'We initially tried to sell the houseboat via a raffle. 'Having seen others doing it, I thought it was an innovative approach to selling. 'Myself and Christina would have gotten something out of it, and a charity would get something out of it. 'Obviously the winner of the houseboat would also get something out of it. 'We were late to the game though and it didn't work out. But I have no regrets and if you don't try, you don't know.' The renovations were completed in 2020 and the vessel features a spacious living room and a large kitchen dining area. Large French doors lead out to an outdoor terrace and the master bedroom is en-suite, with a bath and twin basin vanity unit. Another bathroom and two other single bedrooms can also be found onboard. 7 7 7 The old cargo barge comes from Belgium, where Rohan purchased it for less than £100,000, according to the Daily Mail. Rohan has now moved onto his next project abroad and is hoping that their houseboat will be sold soon. He added: 'I'm already onto my next project so I would like to see the houseboat go to someone who will enjoy it as much as we did. 'It was a wonderful family home that we enjoyed creating. 'We paid a lot of due care and attention to the boat's conversion and finish. 'Everyone who has seen it has loved it, and we have some great memories of the project and living there.' 7
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE I'm in my late-twenties and definitely can't afford a house in London... but here's why I'll NEVER buy a house boat
Noughties Indie rockers The Libertines have a song called up 'Up The Bracket' and it begins with a jarring, almost in-human gurgling sound before the thumping guitar kicks in. The words actually being vomitted out in this guttural opening salvo are 'Get out of it'. I used to be convinced that only a tortured poet like Peter Doherty could ever annunciate a sound with such startling desperation. That was until last week, when I spent a long, lonely and claustrophobic night on a houseboat in London 's trendy Little Venice hearing sounds and experiencing fragments of sensations that chilled my soul to the core. Houseboats are very much the vogue in our cramped and over-populated cities, but they are hardly a new property trend. People have lived on them for years, mostly along stretches of canals in places like Birmingham and London, but also on some rural areas of The Thames. But the number of boat dwellers in the capital has reached a record high, with at least 10,000 people currently calling its waterways home. The surge in popularity for riverboats has also extended across the UK, where the amount of floating homes has risen by 6 per cent in the last decade, reaching a total of 34,573. Traditionally, the sort of person to live on a houseboat is a hardy but bohemian type. A bit of an outsider who doesn't mind cooking everything on an electric stove or carrying their waste to a public toilet in the p****** rain. We all know the sort, and honestly, good luck to them, it's just not a lifestyle 99 per cent of the country want to lead. That should, and used, to be all there was to say on the matter - so why am I, a man in his late-twenties living in London, constantly being told I need to grow up and go live on a houseboat? Irritatingly, the sort of trendy places I am forced to hang out with my friends these days are nearly always situated on some previously god-forsaken and now overly-gentrified stretch of canal where the pints cost £7.80 and you have to sit on a crate. If this wasn't bad enough, I'm also now at the stage of life where some of my more successful (*privileged) friends are starting to settle down with their partners and look for properties together. It should be obvious to you by now dear reader, that not only am I clinically single but also atrocious with money - the only real relationship in my life being a toxic one with disposable vapes that really should have seen me referred to addiction services by now. And of course my friends are aware of this and so after the awkward silences we share whilst canal watching, following their latest attempt to make me justify my life, one question often bobs to the surface. 'Have you considered getting a houseboat? The mortages are really cheap and it's basically a property hack. Loads of my mates have done it!' Mmmmhmmm. Yes, your friends, my friends, we're all living on houseboats in this hellish, never-ending water world. But why? Well, lets find out from the source shall we? As we all know, people who live on houseboats love nothing more than telling everyone they know they live on a houseboat. It's like a drug to them. They crave it in that utterly desperate way and we all have to suffer as a result. And after they've told everyone they've ever met, some people like to take it one step further and tell, your friend and mine, the media. You might think 27-year-old El Sutcliffe isn't a stereotypical houseboat dweller, but she and others like her are now, I would argue at least, peak boaters. The firefighter and TikTok enthusiast recently spoke about her decision to live along the canals in the West Midlands on a £15,750, 49ft narrowboat. 'It just seemed like a no-brainer and I don't have any regrets, I think the housing market is all a bit mad', she exclaimed, 'I could never afford to live where I do if I didn't live on a boat. 'It had no flooring, it had sunk previously, it was all very questionable – but I thought 'what have I got to lose?' Since buying the boat in May 2024, El says she has spent over £10,000 on renovations. These included essentials like a log burner, a fully-equipped kitchen with fridge, sink, and gas cooker. So over £25,000 in the hole then? But, she has 'zero regrets.' She continued: 'I could have got a one-bed flat in quite a rough part of Birmingham where I would have had to pay ground rent, maintenance fees and things like that. 'I'd always liked the idea of living on the boat but I was running out of time, I needed to figure something out. 'I can't see myself getting rid of it – it would absolutely break my heart because we've built it from the ground up.' She says that once the renovations are complete, she expects to pay between £550 each month on mooring and upkeep costs - which is cheap, so where's the downside? Well, listen El, if it works for you it works for you, but I can still think of a few downsides. A former colleague of mine used to live on a houseboat, having bought it cheap with his girlfriend at the peak of their love. They probably dreamed of all the romantic nights they'd spend on the loch as their late-twenties rolled into their thirties. But time and perhaps the claustrophobic nature of their relationship and squat (*houseboat) did for them. She split up with him and moved up north with her new boyfriend just before Covid. He stayed on the houseboat (which he only owned half off) - working from home during the pandemic with an internet dongle and an electric heater. I left that job over three years ago but can still picture him in the office like it was yesterday. He would sit hunched over his monitor in a dirty wool sweater with a palpable sadness in his eyes. His pink chapped hands clawing at the keyboard and cradling his coffee mug for warmth. He also stank. I hope he is doing OK now. We've started rambling here, but the reason we have is that my editor asked me to interview someone about a houseboat. Naturally, I refused for the reasons outlined above. Eventually, we came to a compromise. So, this is what happened when I spent one night living with the enemy on one of London's trendiest waterways. My home for the night is a charming enough vessel which I found advertised on Airbnb for the reasonable price of £160-a-night. It sleeps four, with two in the double bed at the back of the boat (starboard?), and another two presumably sleeping uncomfortably on the sofa bed which is crammed in by the door and log burner at the front (port?). My host is incredibly proud of it anyway, and in fairness, it is well equipped and he seems amenable, even offering me a quick one-hour tour along the river before the night begins. As you would expect, it is incredibly cramped inside the boat, it essentially being a caravan on water. After arriving, I busied myself making a cup of coffee navigating the lighter hob with aplomb and only momentarily being overwhelmed by the noxious smell of the leaking gas. As I worked I kept smacking my elbows against the shelves and windows of the kitchen area which was naturally irritating. But, if you did actually live here (shudder) I can imagine you would eventually get used to the cramped quarters and adapt your movements. What was more interesting, and perhaps something you'd never really get a hold on, was the fact the boat did rock from side to side as I moved around and it was hit from the side by waves and disturbances in the fetid canal. I take my coffee outside and sit for a while on the small deck area at the front of the boat. I watch the joggers and cyclists go about their business and hear the sounds of birds chirping. Across the canal, trendy diners are eating gourmet Italian in a pop-up cafe. In the distance, I hear the throng of the Westway, that ol' familiar of London's heaving road network, carrying on with its solemn duty by selflessly ferrying commuters home to places like Reading and Slough. I sink back and close my eyes, allowing myself the space and time to relax into my surroundings. I feel peaceful, like I'm perhaps enjoying this after all? I open my eyes again and see a teenager staring listlessly at me on the opposite bank. He's staring at me intently, but it's not boredom or envy I'm reading in his sullen eyes. No, I've seen that look before, in the faces of exasperated bus drivers, in the gaze of triumphant traffic wardens, in my own mirror after a bad weekend. Yes. the look he's giving me is one of pure hatred. He thinks I own a houseboat, and he's giving me that self-same look that screams a familiar mantra. 'Bore off, mate.' I rush back into the boat and slam shut the makeshift doors vowing not to leave it again until darkness offers me the sweet release of personal brand anonymity. After a disappointing meal in one of the aforementioned trendy riverside haunts (no change from £30 for a burger and drink) I am ready for bed. The canal boat is baking when I return having basked in the sun all day. It is interminable but I'm beyond caring. I peel off my drenched clothes and make use of the shower, which has a surprisingly firm water pressure even if it is freezing cold. The cramped apparatus floods the bathroom though so my feet are soggy when I return to my small and hot bed. As the water dries on my unhappy feet, I drift into a restless sleep. At 3am, I awake with a jolt. I can hear something outside in the darkness, a low, groaning sound interspersed with cackling and the clink of bottles. I peak out through the curtains and my worse fears are confirmed. The undesirables are having a substance party underneath the bridge.
Times
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
New popular fiction for April — an update of Great Gatsby and more
Lexi and Zeke are having a pretty bad morning. Their drunken one-night stand was fun, but they've woken up to discover that the rickety old houseboat they're on has drifted out into the North Sea. No phone signal, no power, no means of steering — and just a fridge full of festering food to get them through. Beth O'Leary, author of The Flatshare, goes full tilt at her 'locked-room romance' premise, upping the ante as their boat-prison develops more leaks and the days start racking up. Lexi and Zeke have baggage to unpack, naturally — she's had a shattering bust-up with her best friend Penny; he's struggling to deal with his estranged dad's death and family secrets. And as they've agreed to a no-shenanigans
