Vessels that used to moor at the gas works site=Watermans park Brentford

Thanks, that facebook site is pretty thin and there must be something I'm missing. A lot of Dutch barges have passed through the site over the years, from Risico (now called Sonnet) to Alvracht, Albatross,  Libra and Rijo a Dam. Ambulant is still there, and Ysland has moved next door to Victoria Steps after a rebuild. There were also many other vessels that were not barges.   Development is not proceeding at pace, in fact it's going in small bursts on only part of the moorings, although the car park is almost done. It's all several years behind schedule. Once being promoted as a new residential mooring for mobile barges, the current plan might well be to accommodate new-builds. In the meantime, I'm trying to make sure the shifting collection of old boats that was once there is not forgotten. Hence my approach to DBA members

Hi Hilary,

I don't have any first hand knowledge, however you might want to try this old facebook group:https://www.facebook.com/watermansparkboatcommunity/

Development proceeds at pace now on the site.

This site is downstream of Lots Ait and upstream of Victoria Steps and the Hollows, above Kew Bridge inside Brentford Ait. It provided a free drying mooring for over 50 years after the gas works closed in the late 1960s, but is now being cleared for 'development'. I'm trying to identify all the significant vessels that spent time squatting there, to inform a talk I'm giving shortly to the Friends of Waterman's Park. Much is being forgotten, which is not helped by the frequent changing of boat names. Was your barge there once, or do you know what happened to others that were once there? I've found 5 boats on the National Historic Ships register that moored there at one time, and another now overseas that should be on the register. Gossip and old photos would be much appreciated. Hilary Pereira of the Lilian, which was squatting there when we bought her.