How the other 0.01% live

When you go on a train journey, you can amuse yourself by looking into the back gardens of terraced houses, admiring their sheds and marvelling at their junk. On the canal you can also look at back gardens, often neatly kept, with perhaps a bit of decking and a barbecue. On the Thames however, you can only gawp at the excesses of the super rich.


Wargave, Bourne End, Marlow, Cookham, and the king of 'em all - Bray.

No wonder Bray's local restaurants are run by Michel Roux and Heston Blumenthal. These people can afford it. I don't think we're talking million pound houses here, they're a lot more than that. Of course lots of them have their smart little boat houses for their smart big boats.

Windsor was nice. We got a good free mooring just yards downstream of Eton Bridge with a free view of the castle. Joined by for the evening by Mr and Mrs Rainman, we all dined at Wetherspoons steak night. Hardly Heston Blumenthal I suppose, but it was all very jolly. Returning to the boat we had to be on our best behaviour because of this rather wonderful sign right next to the boat.

Not easy as we were all laughing about this and that. Muffled titters were all we were allowed. Daft really, because we were right under the Heathrow flight path with a big airliner low overhead every minute!

Then last night, Marlow where we got another good free mooring. A good time to do the Thames this is. There are hardly any other boats around to pinch the best spots.

Tonight we are at Sonning where I type this to the enticing aromas of Marilyn's cooking , following a tasty pint at the Bull Inn, to which we have walked many times in the past. It's a hard life.