parents who lived on a Thames barge
Oh, nothing exciting. It's just that it was very difficult to find somewhere to live in England after the war because so many houses had been destroyed. The first home that I remember was a camping trailer (not a mobile home - a real camping trailer). My dad liked boats, so he was probably really happy to find the barge -- but mum has mentioned that she had occasional "moments", like when there was a storm surge on the Medway (the river where they were tied up) while dad was away and she was trying to keep the barge on the river and off the other craft at 3am in a storm. At least she had a short commute - she worked in the office at the boatyard. People lived on all sorts of boats then -- lots of converted landing craft and MTB-type (like American PT boats). Even as late as the early 70s there were converted bridge pontoons being used as pleasure craft (at 20ft LOA they were a little small to live aboard). For what little it's worth, I don't remember the mix of cream and tanbark on Thames barges so it may be fairly recent (i.e. after the mid 70s) Giles Morris Arlington VA Montgomery 15 "Umiaq" Vancouver 25 "Dolphin" Miscellaneous small craft