Hiley Website

A three day away trip to Suffolk

Date & Time: Tuesday the 4th, to Thursday the 6th April 2006.

Places visited : Pin Mill on the River Orwell, down river from Ipswich.

Details : A three day visit to catch up with the family in their new house.

With : Cathy, Richard, Jack, Matthew, Sam, Alexander and their two dogs, .Ann and our dogs.

Weather : Sunny and dry.

Alexander, Cathy's fourth boy and our fifth grandchild.

For a change we were heading south on the motorways, rather than north in the old days. To be more accurate is wasn't all motorways and we travelled more like south east to Suffolk and the Ipswich area. After a stop for lunch with Angie in Lincolnshire, we arrived at Pin Mill towards the end of a beautifully sunny afternoon.

Pin Mill is a classic east coast village on the shores of the River Orwell. The area has a long history of boats, sea bourne trade, and in Pin Mill's context boat building.

Here were literally centuries of interaction with the sea, classic old Thames Barges, old houseboats, timber, clinker and fibreglass all mixed in a jumble of activity.

Equally old it seemed was the village electrical supply for as we settled for supper on the first evening the electricity failed, so it was off to the pub for a meal.

They had power of sorts but cooked on gas, so a fine meal was on offer helped down with a pint of the local Adnams Ales.



First light on the front drive's archway door.	The Butt and Oyster illuminated by a 6 am sunrise.

First night excitement of being with friends meant that the four dogs were up and bouncing early.

A look out of the window revealed a clear bright dawn so it was a quick dress, grab the camera, and see the village in it's early morning colours.

The old Thames Barge moored near the slipway.



Houseboats down river from the pub	Some more unusual than others

Back to the village in time for breakfast.



Alexander at play.	The tower falls	helped by his foot.

Mid morning now and the tide is falling fast,

leaving the boats to settle gently onto the mud.



Beware boat on the move - off for repairs in the boat yard.	A clever bit of driving through the narrow entrance.

Later in the morning we all went for a stroll down river.

By now the tide was well out and the river banks were a real attraction for the boys and the dogs.



Sam enjoying the mud.	Matthew manages to get stuck . . .	and loses a welli with inevitable muddy results.

It didn't look deep, but even at low tide the River Orwell can still cope with reasonably large vessels sailing in and out of Ipswich.

After lunch (and after we had put the washing machine on)

we took a second walk on the River Stour side of the Pin Mill peninsular at Holbrook Bay.

The Royal Hospital School, Holbrook.

This is Jack's boarding school, and was the main reason Cathy and Richard bought a house in this area.



Alexander, Cathy and Ann . . .	plus the boys.

A pasture of daffodils surround this local resident

Sutton Church is the tower in the background.

Holbrook Creek, now rapidly filling with water as the tide rises.

Compare this with the photo above less than an hour earlier.

Reed cutting provides the raw materials for the thatcher's trade.

Sounds of activity but no sign of the workers hidden deep in the reed bed.

Thursday morning and time for a walk, this time up river.

This was a rather more classic houseboat than some we had seen.

The River Orwell Bridge

A fine structure connecting Felixtowe (9 miles to the east) with the motorway system (to the west)

The Wolverstone Marina

Good moorings and all day launch facilities for yachts and dinghies.

Back to Pin Mill for a lunch at home before sadly we had to leave.

The Four Lads

Sam, Matthew, Jack and little Alexander.

- - - o o o - - -

Technical note: Pictures taken with a Canon IXUS 400 Digital camera.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . a pint of Adnams Ales from the Butt and Oyster.