THE WANDLE TRAIL MYSTERY - PART 1
by Ant Jones
Quite possibly one of life’s biggest mysteries, ‘Who is Tony Trude?’ And was he a real person? Well, according to a plaque once attached to railings on London’s Wandle Trail, he was...
“Tony Trude moored his houseboat, ‘Land of Cockaign’ And watched
river life. The boat sank in 2001.”
But that’s as far as the story goes. Up until September 2016 a sunken boat lay abandoned in the River
Wandle, not far from where the plaque was erected. Although, nobody seemed to know if the two were connected.
The sunken houseboat and the mysterious plaque (pics by Tim White)
I found a few blogs on the subject but nobody seemed to know anything more than what was on the plaque itself. So I decided to investigate this bizarre mystery...
A blog comment finally helped lead me to Tony. It mentioned he was now living near Chichester and after a bit of searching I finally managed to track down the man himself... Tony Trude.
Mr. Trude’s initial reaction to my correspondence was that my letter had given him a laugh and that he would get back to me. Then after a week or so, I received a series of detailed emails regarding everything that was needed to know about the mystery of Tony and his houseboat ‘Land of Cockaign’.
Tony’s story dates back to around 1995. At the time, he had been living in a flat at Battersea, but due to the mortgage rates going up, Tony decided to rent out his flat as he could no longer afford to live there.
For a cheaper alternative way of living, Tony bought a boat for £1000 from a guy called John. The boat, which had been laid up at Barking Creek, was a 54 foot length, 13 foot wide, 14 ton, double diagonal teak naval pinnace, built in 1942. It is believed that she would have been used to ferry equipment to shore from ships.
The previous owner had originally purchased the boat from Dover Harbour, who had sold her to recover fees. Before selling to Tony, a steel wheelhouse and cabin had been built, to which Tony described as the height and size of a small block of flats.
“With the wind behind you, you wouldn’t have needed an engine,”
recalls Tony.
He decided to name his boat ‘Land of Cockaigne’. Inspired by a Pieter Bruegel painting of the same name. The medieval work of art represented a mythical land of idleness and luxury.
Over the next couple of years, Tony refurbished the boat to suit his living needs. He removed 2 ton of cabin and built a single wooden one for a bedroom. The rear original cabin was fitted out as a kitchen/galley.
“The engine was a 1940’s K4, weighing 2 1/4 ton and standing 5 feet tall. It was a beautiful engine with brass and copper tubes on the outside. If you look at a sentinal steam lorry engine and then the K4, you can see it evolved from steam.”
Tony loved the look of the engine so much, that he decided to leave it in the centre of his living quarters, which measured about 30 foot long and 12 foot wide.
A blog comment finally helped lead me to Tony. It mentioned he was now living near Chichester and after a bit of searching I finally managed to track down the man himself... Tony Trude.
Mr. Trude’s initial reaction to my correspondence was that my letter had given him a laugh and that he would get back to me. Then after a week or so, I received a series of detailed emails regarding everything that was needed to know about the mystery of Tony and his houseboat ‘Land of Cockaign’.
Tony’s story dates back to around 1995. At the time, he had been living in a flat at Battersea, but due to the mortgage rates going up, Tony decided to rent out his flat as he could no longer afford to live there.
For a cheaper alternative way of living, Tony bought a boat for £1000 from a guy called John. The boat, which had been laid up at Barking Creek, was a 54 foot length, 13 foot wide, 14 ton, double diagonal teak naval pinnace, built in 1942. It is believed that she would have been used to ferry equipment to shore from ships.
The previous owner had originally purchased the boat from Dover Harbour, who had sold her to recover fees. Before selling to Tony, a steel wheelhouse and cabin had been built, to which Tony described as the height and size of a small block of flats.
“With the wind behind you, you wouldn’t have needed an engine,”
recalls Tony.
He decided to name his boat ‘Land of Cockaigne’. Inspired by a Pieter Bruegel painting of the same name. The medieval work of art represented a mythical land of idleness and luxury.
Over the next couple of years, Tony refurbished the boat to suit his living needs. He removed 2 ton of cabin and built a single wooden one for a bedroom. The rear original cabin was fitted out as a kitchen/galley.
“The engine was a 1940’s K4, weighing 2 1/4 ton and standing 5 feet tall. It was a beautiful engine with brass and copper tubes on the outside. If you look at a sentinal steam lorry engine and then the K4, you can see it evolved from steam.”
Tony loved the look of the engine so much, that he decided to leave it in the centre of his living quarters, which measured about 30 foot long and 12 foot wide.
The boat laid up at Barking Creek (pics by Tony Trude)
In 1997, he decided to move the boat to Battersea, but because the boat had been under water a couple of times, the engine needed a lot of work. Tony took it all apart and even took some components from two similar engines, but could still not get it to work. He then decided to secure a 45 hp outboard engine to the tiller and embarked on an eventful 15 mile journey to the other side of London.
To get the ‘Land of Cockaigne’ from Barking Creek to Battersea, Tony needed to wait for the right tide and weather conditions to ensure a smooth journey.
Tony called upon a most unlikely source of aid, a friend called Ian, a recovering heroin addict that lived under a bridge at Ladbroke Grove.
Tony remembers the evening of the tide very well, as it came two evenings before a fellow Tony (Blair) got elected in 1997. With limited facilities on board, Trude had to improvise, so with no lights, he put candles in jam jars painted red and green. Then to get through the Thames Barrier minus a radio, Tony nipped ashore to a phone box, where he was given the gate number to enter. Although, the Thames Barrier Control people were not very impressed with Tony and Ian’s lack of equipment.
Tony had never done anything like this before, he’d never sailed a boat and couldn’t swim, so he was understandably a little nervous. But to put Ian’s mind at ease, Tony gave him some words of encouragement:
“The worst that can happen is we drown!”
Although, seeing as Blair was about to get into office, Tony thinks that might have been the better option.
The next day, the boat arrived at Wapping, just as an almighty storm blew up, causing waves to wash onto the vessel. The water damage finished off the outboard engine, leaving the boat stuck in the river. Luckily for Tony and Ian, some helpful police came by and towed the boat to safety. Apparently, they hadn’t been the only vessel in trouble that day, as the police had told them of a yacht capsizing at London Bridge.
(click here for part 2)
To get the ‘Land of Cockaigne’ from Barking Creek to Battersea, Tony needed to wait for the right tide and weather conditions to ensure a smooth journey.
Tony called upon a most unlikely source of aid, a friend called Ian, a recovering heroin addict that lived under a bridge at Ladbroke Grove.
Tony remembers the evening of the tide very well, as it came two evenings before a fellow Tony (Blair) got elected in 1997. With limited facilities on board, Trude had to improvise, so with no lights, he put candles in jam jars painted red and green. Then to get through the Thames Barrier minus a radio, Tony nipped ashore to a phone box, where he was given the gate number to enter. Although, the Thames Barrier Control people were not very impressed with Tony and Ian’s lack of equipment.
Tony had never done anything like this before, he’d never sailed a boat and couldn’t swim, so he was understandably a little nervous. But to put Ian’s mind at ease, Tony gave him some words of encouragement:
“The worst that can happen is we drown!”
Although, seeing as Blair was about to get into office, Tony thinks that might have been the better option.
The next day, the boat arrived at Wapping, just as an almighty storm blew up, causing waves to wash onto the vessel. The water damage finished off the outboard engine, leaving the boat stuck in the river. Luckily for Tony and Ian, some helpful police came by and towed the boat to safety. Apparently, they hadn’t been the only vessel in trouble that day, as the police had told them of a yacht capsizing at London Bridge.
(click here for part 2)
Article originally printed in 'Beyond The Bleak' Zine - Issue 1