Gardens on London’s barges
August 7th, 2009 | by Nick |

One of the most unusual corners of London is the remarkable Garden Barge Square (Photo: Drew Bennellick) where a community of barge owners live right by next to Tower Bridge. These historic moorings date back 200 years or more. Gardens have been created on the decks of many of the barges to form a kind of floating garden square. But be warned barge living is not as romantic it first might seem. The Thames is cold, damp and grey in winter and the cabins are cramped. See more on Tree Hugger.
See also: Anatomy of a garden: Barge gardens (The Guardian) “Floating on the Thames just downstream from Tower Bridge are the most extraordinary gardens, yet thanks to their illustrious neighbour they’re largely unnoticed.”
The oldest osprey of the UK – and probably the world – has returned to her eyrie in the Scottish highlands. When she left for West Africa at the end of last summer, no one expected her to return. At 26 she’s lived 3 times longer than most female ospreys. In her life she’s laid 58 eggs and hatched 48 chicks, a massive individual contribution to the survival of ospreys in Scotland, where there are still only about 200 breeding pairs. The questions now are if her mate will return and if she is still fertile. Events can be followed on the 
Otters, water voles and fish are all benefitting from the improved quality of the UK’s waterways, now described as the cleanest since the industrial revolution. Since almost disappearing from the wild in the 1970s, otters are thriving, particularly in the south west of England, Cumbria and Northumberland. The population of water voles, highly precarious in the 1990s, is also beginning to recover. The good results of stricter pollution controls and extensive conservation work are set to continue in the new year with the introduction of new European water quality directives.










