Month: April 2007
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The mooring at Three Mills has historically been the home for 20 canal boats and 31 canal boat living people. Until a few months ago when the British Waterways announced that everyone would have to leave for 18 months while the canal undergoes improvements made to transport construction materials for the Olympics. Now the mooring…
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This is a view from the Greenway, a section of the canal a few blocks away from Three Mills Mooring. People still think of the canal as a place to deposit their trash and unwanted belongings. This is a sight that will be hidden once the canal improvements for the 2012 Olympics are made and…
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The narrow boats at Three Mills Mooring sit on the mud twice a day. This gives Brian and his son Darren at least four good hunting hours for the worms, that they sell for tropical fish food. Darren says cloudy days are ideal because the worms rise close to the surface so they don’t have…
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Darren says worm work is hardest on your arms and back. Today he has a hole in his waders and his legs are cold and wet. After the canal improvements they will have to try and find somewhere else to hunt but they will keep coming here until the very end. Darren, 28, likes the…
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The boaters realized after looking for new moorings to move to, that they have a pretty good deal at Three Mills, because they are tucked away from sight by other people, they are allowed to do as they please with the mooring. Many people grow plants and store extra belongings that don’t fit, in their…
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Dick Vincent watches from his boat as Luke comforts his son Josh, 4, after a mid-mooring racing collision with older brother Albie, 6. For Albie and Josh’s entire lives, the mooring has been lined with other boats, leaving little opportunity for the boys to fall into the water or the mud. Soon all of the…
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Fred and Ester, the swans, live under the bridge at the end of the Three Mills mooring. They visit whenever they see people around, in hopes there might be some free handouts. They nest under the bridge each year and introduce their babies to the community. Brian, the worm man, helped Ester when she had…
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Another perk to living at Three Mills is the extra outdoor space they have acquired over the years. At one end of the mooring, there is a patch of land that a few community memebers turned into a garden and a picnic area for barbeques. During the summer nights, it is rare to find the…
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“Coal Liz” Striker, 32, took over the business in September and has been traveling up and down London’s canals selling coal for seven days a week ever since. She looks forward to the canal improvements so her customers at Three Mills can call her when they need coal and she can deliver what they need…
somewhere between a handshake and two kisses 