If London is the coolest place in the world then the coolest stretch on the globe is the city’s waterways. The Thames has always been a glamorous transport link (think Anne Boleyn hornily tooling up the river to Hampton Court) but these days anyone who is anyone seems to have a patch of water under them, or at least spot of it in their eye-line. In broad strokes: aristos tend toward barges, finance bros like the wharfs, while hipsters and arty types are mad for towpaths. Who are these water babies and what’s the draw?
Baron Guillaume André, property developer and one of the grander of the boatmen says, “I wanted to live like an elegant gypsy. But in London.” His sixty foot canal boat ‘Nightjar’, moored by Westbourne Park Road, is like having “a one bedroom studio in Notting Hill” and is just as deluxe. “Doing it up has been a labour of love”, says Guillaume, having taken the view that any bit of furniture which might have fit into the imaginary Notting Hill studio could be manhandled onto the boat, the result is a smart but comfortable lounge bar.
