In turbulent times such as these, don’t you sometimes yearn for a haven where you can lose yourself in a different world and live life at a different pace while you’re there?

With only the quacking of ducks and honking of wild geese to disturb the peace, this floating home on the Thames close to one of the prettiest villages in south Bucks could provide an enviable escape from the turmoil on shore.

Pictured is a 60ft barge built in 1999 for sale with a guide price of £130,000 at the Greater London office of waterside property specialist River Homes.

Even though she is predominantly built of steel, her name is Pewter.

The boat is currently in Cookham but the mooring isn’t part of the deal.

“She has been completely refitted within the last three years,” reports agency director Henry Day.

“The entrance to the wheelhouse has been transformed into a large open plan kitchen/breakfast room. The fitted units include a breakfast bar with a raised sofa to take advantage of the 360 degree panoramic view through the windows on all sides.

“One short flight of stairs leads down to the living accommodation towards the bow of the boat where there’s a bedroom and a large living room with a wood burning stove and folding doors that open onto the deck.

“The other set of stairs in the wheelhouse leads to the stern where there’s the main bedroom with double bed and storage and also a very stylish tiled shower room.”

He adds: “The boat is heavily insulated throughout, the windows are double glazed, there’s an oil-fired combi boiler, the living room and bedrooms are carpeted and there’s a wooden floor in the kitchen and hall.”

Barges are part of naval history. Pewter is classed as a dumb barge – ie not self propelled.

Traditionally they were mainly built as a cheap form of transport for heavy goods via a river or canal on the inland waterway system. Craft less than seven feet wide are narrowboats.

At 13ft wide Pewter is a broadbeam. She needs a tug to tow her. There’s no on-board engine. Dumb barges are occasionally towed by a horse plodding along the towpath with a rope to connect it to the boat. In the old days a barge could have been propelled through the water by a pole or an oar.

The future owner of Pewter will need to find a new mooring and then hire a tug to tow her there.

Meanwhile, the agents at River Homes are also hoping to find a new owner for the African Queen. It’s not the boat at the centre of the action in the 1951 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn.

This one was built in Holland in 1923 as a working barge called De Hoop.

After 30 or 40 years ferrying cargo up and down Dutch canals she was shipped over to Ireland where she was converted into a luxury cruiser for the American market.

There her name was changed to Shannon Princess to reflect the name of the river where she worked for the next 40 years until she was brought to England by the present owners in 2004 and moored on the Thames.

She has a 120 hp diesel engine, ten cabins, ten bathrooms, honeymoon suite, swanky saloon with a bar, skipper’s quarters and a well equipped gallery designed to cater for up to 12 passengers, plus a crew of four.

This African Queen is for sale through River Homes for £375,000.