Date & Time: Wed / Thursday 26/27th August 2009.

Location : Pin Mill in Suffolk and Castle Bytham in Lincolnshire.

Places visited : Pin Mill to Clamp House and Docksight Woods to Holywell Ponds.

Walk details : Two shorter walks before each half of the journey home.

With : Cathy and the grandsons Jack, Matthew, Sam and Alexander

. . . . . . then an overnight stay with David and Angie.

Weather : Beautifully sunny with the occasional cloudy shadow.

Day 4 and 5 . Pin Mill and Angie's

 Pin Mill and Castle Bytham

Map created by EveryTrail

 

Our last couple of days with Cathy and the boys and after yesterdays drive to Felixstowe, today we had a leisurely stay at home.

Leisurely but not without a walk of course and this time we ventured down river, through the local woods to a place known locally at The Clamp.

   
The tide is still low as we start the walk started from the village.
The National Trust sign at the edge of the woods.

Up onto the headland and alongside the farm fields for a short way.

The cereal crop in the fields has been cut but the blackberry bushes along the way hadn't and they provided us with some small but sweet berries.

Clamp House . . . an unusual name . . . probably one full of history.

   
There was a short period of discussion about who was taller.
Matthew on the left still had some way to go to catch his mum ! (not)

The lower reaches of the river, away from Pin Mill, doesn't have so many moorings.

After walking down from the woods we would return by the shoreline footpath just behind the trees.

Nearing the village, a graveyard of old boats.

The Orwell Bridge can be seen between several newer but equally abandoned hulls.

Further up we reached the houseboats, a feature on the Pin Mill shoreline.

A big effort has been made to clear the area of rubbish and many of the boat owners have gone that little bit further

and decorated their homes with garden plants to further enhance the area . . . it looks better at high tide !

Overcast skies . . . Ok for one last job . . . to repaint the garden sculpture.

It came with the house . . .
It looks like the prow of a boat . . .
and is much improved with a lick of paint.

- - - o o o - - -

Ready for the off, the boot of the car is up in order to stow our bags . . . it was time to be making our way home.

What a glorious day . . . time for one last photo.

A sunny Pin Mill panorama.

- - - o o o - - -

On the way back north towards the Lakes we stopped of at friends in Lincolnshire.

David and Angie offered us a rather pleasant "bed and breakfast" stop which broke the eight hour journey north really well.

We also met fellow OFC members Sherran and Bill and our other daughter, Jenna, for a meal Wednesday evening at a local pub.

This morning, Thursday, we had time for a relaxed walk locally after this rather leisurely start.

We walked down into Docksight Woods along a tributary of the River Glen, which eventually heads out to sea via the town of Spalding.

A lone swan seeks the protection of the lake away from the three lively dogs.

Bailey, Harry and Bethan were busy enjoying their run around.

The round trip took us up through the woods then across the top road towards Lodge Farm.

A last downhill section brought us out at the Holywell Ponds.

These are artificial ponds in the grounds of the old Holywell House Estate and adjacent to Mill Farm.

They provide a lovely lake environment and attract large numbers of swans, geese and ducks.

A " flotilla " (?) of geese.

The Mute Swan ruffling it's feathers in a slight display.

Being totally unprepared

we had not brought any bird food

 

- - - o o o - - -

 

so the dogs selflessly sacrificed

the last of their soft dog treats

for the greater cause !

" Hopefully he wouldn't sacrifice the final three . . . would he ? "

So ends Ann and my visit to Suffolk this August.

Many thanks to Cathy and Richard and also to Angie and David.

[ A special thanks also to Angie who took the last three photos on this page.]

 

- - - o o o - - -

Technical note: Pictures taken with Ann's, Angie's and my digital cameras.

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

This site best viewed with . . . good friends half way home.

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Previous walk - Tuesday 25th August 2009 Day 3 - The Old Felixstowe Ferry

A previous time here - 4th to 6th April 2006 A family visit to Pin Mill in 2006

Next walk - Saturday 5th Sept 2009 Ennerdale Round the Lake

 

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