This old barge has been moored on the other side of the river near the confluence of the Kennet with the Thames for as long as I can remember. I recall as a child being told by my parents that it had been there for years before I was born. That side of the river used to be farmland and, for a while, this barge had been used as a floating cowshed. The land was bought up by gravel excavators years ago and still this old barge remained. Most of the hull below water has rotted away by now and it sits on the river bed these days. Though, for the last couple of years, it has been home to a former boat dweller who, I believe, lost his boat due to some financial problems. I think he has given this old thing a new lease of life. Whereas it used to look like a rotting eyesore, it now has a certain charm and certainly gets some looks from passing boaters. ------------------------------------------ Original Photograph: 17 May 2012