THE WANDLE TRAIL MYSTERY - PART 2
by Ant Jones
For many years, people have wondered what the story was behind the mysterious plaque that hung on the railings of London's Wandle Trail. It read, "Tony Trude moored his houseboat 'Land of Cockaign' and watched river life. The boat sank in 2001."
In Part 1, I delved into this mystery by tracking down Tony and finding out about him and the 'Land of Cockaigne'. He pretty much restored the vessel from a wreck, before embarking on a lengthy journey across the Thames, with the aid of a friend named Ian.
Before the restoration of the boat, Tony had been involved in Architectural Restoration, making ironwork/garden walls, path tiling and even totting. Being a Rag & Bone man often led to a good supply
of architectural items that could then be sold on at Tony's stall at Portobello (Golborne Road) Market and Brick Lane (Cheshire Street) Market. It was also great to learn that back in the 1970s, Tony was involved in the publishing of an alternative magazine called 'Lower Down'. The zine was named after the fact that they all lived in a basement in Battersea.
But back to the story of Tony's boat...
The boat had just been towed to safety by police, after water damage had finished off the outboard engine at Wapping.
Tony and Ian were starting to get hungry, so Tony left Ian on board whilst he went to get some food. He wanted Ian to keep an eye on everything but before he left, noticed Ian had been a bit jumpy. Trude initially put this down to Ian’s fear of being on a boat but when he returned, Ian had cleared off and the boat was pointing out towards the river, with water coming in through the portholes. Luckily, Tony managed to seal everything up and dry out the engine. As for why Ian scarpered, Tony later found out that he had forgotten his script for drug recovery.
Friday 2nd May 1997 - Blair’s election day. It was a lovely Sunny morning but Trude foresaw all kinds of security checks as he sailed the ‘Land of Cockaigne’ up past the House of Commons and under Lambeth Bridge, but luckily, nothing happened.
Tony arrived at Prices Candles and moored up. A day or so later, an apologetic harbourmaster came along, to report that one of the gentry had complained about Tony’s boat being there. He recommended
that Trude should moor up on the Wandle, at the point where it meets the Thames. Tony moved along to the Wandle and moored up at the old Feathers Wharf site, where the dustcarts used to tip rubbish
onto the barges.
The manager of the waste site didn’t have a problem with Tony’s boat being there, as long as he wasn’t a nuisance but due to the local council being on the managers case, he was eventually asked
to move.
"I moved to the other side of the river but they got the owners to take me to court, so I moved back to the Feathers Wharf side before the court date. This happened a couple of times and in the end they all gave up and I ended up moored on the Putney side of the Wandle,” Tony recalls.
Bell Lane Creek on the River Wandle, was to be the final resting place for Tony’s boat.
The ‘Land of Cockaigne’ moored on the River Wandle (pic by Tony Trude)
The blue plaque on the Wandle trail claimed that Tony enjoyed river life. This was true. Tony had some fond memories of being on the river. A heron and kingfisher would often sit on his boat. He witnessed all sorts of wildlife and their everyday survival on the river.
"We were sitting on the back deck one Summers day and the tidal barrier at the end of the Wandle was partially up. A shoal of fish, about 9 inches long, gradually swam past. I saw a flock of starlings mobbing a heron that was standing in the mud. Then all of a sudden, the heron caught one of the starlings. The heron stood there for a few minutes, then ducked the starling into the mud to drown it, before eating it in one go."
The only downside to living on the Wandle, was getting water for washing, drinking, and the toilets. There were also a few incidents of vandalism, including a break-in.
"Rivers, especially tidal ones and creeks, are lovely places to live, even in a city. You are aware of the two tides a day and the fantastic difference in tide heights throughout the year. I could sometimes catch my dinner on the creek, as the tide came up," remembers Tony.
Although, not all of Tony’s memories from these days were quite so memorable. In 1999 there was a strong gale and the wind smashed the boat against the flood defence barrier, ripping all 35 feet of the cabin off.
Before this event, Trude had been trying to get the boat to Chichester but seeing as he knew little about the sea, placed an advert for someone with sailing experience to accompany him on the journey. Tony was hoping to sail down the Thames and then follow the coastline around to West Sussex. When the day arrived, the person who had promised to help didn't turn up.
After the damage to the cabin, the plan for the boat to be re-located was scrapped. With the boat now wrecked, Tony decided to remove the 2 1/4 ton engine to take to his new home in Chichester.
"There was no way to get it out in one lump so I dismantled it. The flywheel alone weighed 1/4 ton. I had to wait for a high tide with a lot of water in daylight. I pulled the boat onto the path and over the next 4 hours, took the engine off. It then took another couple of hours to get it in my van and onto the trailer, all the time expecting a jobsworth from Wandsworth Council, whose offices were close, to come by and tell me I couldn't do that!"
With the engine now removed, the fixing bolts that secured it let water seep in and the boat gradually filled up with water until she sank.
"I think it must have been about 1999 that the boat sank. I know there was a big storm. And no, I wasn’t standing on the deck saluting," recalls Tony.
The 'Land of Cockaigne' was to remain in the very place she sank until 23rd September 2016, when Wandsworth Council cleared the remains to a landfill site.
"We were sitting on the back deck one Summers day and the tidal barrier at the end of the Wandle was partially up. A shoal of fish, about 9 inches long, gradually swam past. I saw a flock of starlings mobbing a heron that was standing in the mud. Then all of a sudden, the heron caught one of the starlings. The heron stood there for a few minutes, then ducked the starling into the mud to drown it, before eating it in one go."
The only downside to living on the Wandle, was getting water for washing, drinking, and the toilets. There were also a few incidents of vandalism, including a break-in.
"Rivers, especially tidal ones and creeks, are lovely places to live, even in a city. You are aware of the two tides a day and the fantastic difference in tide heights throughout the year. I could sometimes catch my dinner on the creek, as the tide came up," remembers Tony.
Although, not all of Tony’s memories from these days were quite so memorable. In 1999 there was a strong gale and the wind smashed the boat against the flood defence barrier, ripping all 35 feet of the cabin off.
Before this event, Trude had been trying to get the boat to Chichester but seeing as he knew little about the sea, placed an advert for someone with sailing experience to accompany him on the journey. Tony was hoping to sail down the Thames and then follow the coastline around to West Sussex. When the day arrived, the person who had promised to help didn't turn up.
After the damage to the cabin, the plan for the boat to be re-located was scrapped. With the boat now wrecked, Tony decided to remove the 2 1/4 ton engine to take to his new home in Chichester.
"There was no way to get it out in one lump so I dismantled it. The flywheel alone weighed 1/4 ton. I had to wait for a high tide with a lot of water in daylight. I pulled the boat onto the path and over the next 4 hours, took the engine off. It then took another couple of hours to get it in my van and onto the trailer, all the time expecting a jobsworth from Wandsworth Council, whose offices were close, to come by and tell me I couldn't do that!"
With the engine now removed, the fixing bolts that secured it let water seep in and the boat gradually filled up with water until she sank.
"I think it must have been about 1999 that the boat sank. I know there was a big storm. And no, I wasn’t standing on the deck saluting," recalls Tony.
The 'Land of Cockaigne' was to remain in the very place she sank until 23rd September 2016, when Wandsworth Council cleared the remains to a landfill site.
Wandsworth Council’s contractor Land & Water Group,
begin to remove ‘The Land of Cockaigne’. (pic by Land & Water Group Ltd.)
begin to remove ‘The Land of Cockaigne’. (pic by Land & Water Group Ltd.)
The removal was to be part of a project funded by Thames Water to improve water quality, and to restore lost aquatic habitat in the tidal reaches of Bell Lane Creek and the River Wandle.
I spoke to Wandsworth council at the time of removal and they explained that the passage along Bell Lane Creek was narrow, so there was a possibility that if the wreck wasn’t removed, that it might get dislodged or broken up during dredging, resulting in remnants drifting into shipping lanes along the Thames.
Now the wreck may have been gone for almost four years, but we hope that those mysterious words on the Wandle Trail will now make more sense, and that Tony's story will live on through these words.
And even though this article was all about Tony Trude and his houseboat adventures on the ‘Land Of Cockaigne’, quite ironically, Tony claims never to have been much of a boating fan.
I spoke to Wandsworth council at the time of removal and they explained that the passage along Bell Lane Creek was narrow, so there was a possibility that if the wreck wasn’t removed, that it might get dislodged or broken up during dredging, resulting in remnants drifting into shipping lanes along the Thames.
Now the wreck may have been gone for almost four years, but we hope that those mysterious words on the Wandle Trail will now make more sense, and that Tony's story will live on through these words.
And even though this article was all about Tony Trude and his houseboat adventures on the ‘Land Of Cockaigne’, quite ironically, Tony claims never to have been much of a boating fan.
(pics by Land & Water Group Ltd.)
Article originally printed in 'Beyond The Bleak' Zine - Issue 2