Life on the river

To a corner of St James's parish that I haven't previously visited - the floating part.

With the parish boundary running down the middle of the River Thames, the residents of Tower Bridge Moorings, just off Bermondsey Wall East, are parishioners - and today their wonderful 'garden boats' were open to the public as part of the National Gardens Scheme programme of garden openings.

The weather could have been kinder, but the views are fantastic, and the gardens, gradually cultivated on top of the barges since the mid-1990s are stunning. It was good to meet some of the residents, including a youngster who has just started at St James's nursery who had told her teacher on arrival: 'I live on a boat.' She does!

The river can get quite choppy, and some residents can only access their homes by clambering over other boats, so a sense of adventure is pretty much a requirement. You also need to like rivers - and gardens - but you do have the most fantastic views.

You can find out more about life lived on the river at the Tower Bridge Moorings website. Here are some of the photos I took today: