Life on the water

Meet the water rat who’s swapped life on solid ground for a more buoyant existence on the Thames, where you can fish for your supper and an alarm call is the sound of Canada geese on your roof.

Gareth Llewellyn can’t remember the last time he slept on land. ‘I sleep with my head six inches from the water and love the way that the river rocks me to sleep.’

Affectionately known as the Water Rat, he has lived on a barge at Dove Pier in Hammersmith for four years. His passion for a life on the waves began early – he grew up by the sea in Tenby, Wales.