Pin Mill, Alton Water to Woolverstone Suffolk Circular walk 29.06.22

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We arrive at Pin Mill, I park at the roadside, there is a Pay to Park car park a little further up though at 30p an hour.

The expression "pin mill" means a pin factory, and also a word for a wheel with projecting pins used in leather production. But neither of these activities are known to have taken place at Pin Mill, so the origin of the name remains uncertain.

Pin Mill was once a busy landing point for ship-borne cargo, a centre for the repair of Thames sailing barges and home to many small industries such as sail making, a maltings (now a workshop) and a brickyard. The east coast has a long history of smuggling, in which Pin Mill and the Butt and Oyster pub allegedly played key parts.

During World War II Pin Mill was home to Royal Navy Motor Launches and to a degaussing vessel created from a herring drifter. Pin Mill and Woolverstone were home ports to many Landing craft tank used in the invasion of Normandy in 1944.

There have also been recent improvements in the sailing infrastructure, and responsibility for the Hard at Pin Mill has been handed over to a new 'community interest' company.

Immediately downriver of houseboats are a number of wrecked traditional vessels popular with artists and photographers.

We walk on down the River Orwell along the footpath passing several houseboats.

The 1933 novel Ordinary Families by E. Arnot Robertson is the story of a young girl growing up with her family in Pin Mill.

In Arthur Ransome's 1937 novel for children We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea, the young adventurers stay at the real-life Alma Cottage, situated just by the Butt and Oyster pub. Pin Mill also features in the next book Secret Water. Ransome had his own boats built at Harry King's boatyard in Pin Mill and had kept his yacht Selina King at the Pin Mill anchorage in 1937–39, although he himself lived for some time at Levington on the opposite side of the Orwell. In 1911 he had declined an offer to go sailing with the bibliographer Walter Ledger, as he was told by Oscar Wilde's friend Robbie Ross that Ledger had episodes of homicidal mania. Later though he said he always regretted that I did not sail with him, for he kept his "Blue Bird" at Pin Mill, and, if I had gone, I should have known that charming anchorage twenty years earlier.

The film "Ha'penny Breeze" was made in Pin Mill in 1950, featuring a yacht that was based in the area.

The Butt and Oyster pub was used as a filming location in an episode of the British TV series Lovejoy in 1993.

Pin Mill is a setting in the Strong Winds trilogy of children's books by Julia Jones.

The River Orwell flows through the county of Suffolk. Its source river, above the tidal limit at Stoke Bridge, is known as the River Gipping. It broadens into an estuary at Ipswich where the Ipswich dock has operated since the 7th century and then flows into the North Sea at Felixstowe the UK's largest container port after joining with the River Stour at Shotley forming Harwich harbour.

We stop off to take photos of the well photographed wrecks just pass Pin Mill.

In the name Orwell, Or- comes from an ancient river-name — probably pre-Celtic; but -well probably indicates an Anglo-Saxon naming. In A tour through England and Wales written in 1722, Daniel Defoe calls the river "Orwel" (though does this inconsistently). He also mentions that "a traveller will hardly understand me, especially a seaman, when I speak of the River Stour and the River Orwell at Harwich, for they know them by no other names than those of Maningtre-Water, and Ipswich-Water". The writer Eric Blair chose the pen name under which he would later become famous, "George Orwell", because of his love for the river. A few miles north of the Orwell is another Suffolk river the Ore and Orfordness, the village port of Orford with its historic castle.

These wrecks are beached along the foreshore of the River Orwell, which were once sailing cargo vessels. They have been abandoned as dramatic wrecks and are slowly being reclaimed by the forces of nature.

We walk on through the wooded area next to the river, catching glimpses as we pass open areas.

We turn inland now away from the river and pass some ponds on our left. There were some bg fish jumping here.

We walk on passing farmland with fields of potatoes growing.

We pass Hill Farm and its Equestrian Centre.

We walk out onto Hollow Lane Crossing over Pin Mill Road.

We turn a corner on the road and walk up to St Andrews Church.

We pass St Andrews at Chelmondiston.

St Andrew’s is the Anglican Church in Chelmondiston. The first records that is known of to do with Chelmondiston Church are of a Rector instituted on 1266. That makes it more than likely that there has been a church building here since well before that time. Of the building that stood here since the Middle Ages not an awful lot is left. On the evening of 10th December 1944 it was destroyed by a doodle bug that had gone astray. The wonderful current building was finished in 1957.

We left the church and walk up Church Lane and down to the junction of Main Road where we visit Hollingsworth Store and butchers where we buy a coffee milk drink and a cream scone to eat a bit further on. We walked across the road and took a path and followed this until we reached Lings Lane. This was as good a place that we were likely to find to have our drink and scone, so we sat by the entrance to a big house and ate.

 

We continue along the path across Bylam Farm.

There is a beautiful view across to Bylam Cottage.

We turn left out onto Bylam Road and follow this for a short distance. Then we take a footpath across a field. But we had to walk around the edges as the path should go diagonally across but the farmer has not maintained the path and is thick with crops.

We walk out onto Harkstead Lane and then turn right onto New Road. A little way up we take a footpath alongside a field of Barley blended with wild flowers.

We exit out and cross Fir Tree Hill and walk down Back Lane.

Slithering across the road was a Slowworm, we helped it across to the side of the road, but it kept trying to go back across. Hope the little fella survived.

At the bottom of Back Lane we pass a nice looking pond on our right.

We turn left onto Primrose Hill and almost immediately walk across onto another footpath on our right. 

We walk across this footpath until we reach Alton Water.

Alton Water  is a manmade reservoir located on the Shotley peninsula. It is the largest in Suffolk, with a perimeter of over 8 miles (13 km).

Due to a shortage of water in the Ipswich area in the 1960s, a list of twenty potential sites for reservoirs was made, with Alton being the chosen site. The land was mainly farmland, but was also home to a mill and Alton Hall. The mill was dismantled and reconstructed at the Museum of East Anglian Life in Stowmarket.

View to the spire of the Royal Hospital School in Strutton.

Overflow, draw off tower.

Construction and the filling with water took 13 years to complete. Alton Reservoir was opened in 1987 and is fed from the River Gipping and bore holes on the north side of the River Orwell. The pumping station and treatment works below the dam is capable of treating up to 10 million imperial gallons (45,000 m3) of water a day. Between 85% and 95% of the water goes to Ipswich and Felixstowe via the Wherstead reservoir and the Orwell Bridge with the remainder fed to the villages of the Shotley Peninsula and south Suffolk.

We leave Alton Water behind and walk off down a footpath across a farm field.

We walk out on Hyams Lane and walk up a short distance.

At the bend in the road we take a foot path on our left and walk across more farmland.

We walk out into the village of Holbrook cross Reede Road taking a footpath and down to The Street. We turn left and walk onto another path  pass a primary school. At the end of this road we turn right onto Ipswich Road up a short way and across more farmland. Another path is overgrown with crops and I get wet trousers bottoms walking through it.

The path comes out onto Harkstead Lane which we follow a short way until we take another path.

After a bit of farmland paths we reach Main Road and cross over into Woolverstone.

We now follow a road (track) across Dairy Farm.

Dairy Farm House

We reach the church of St Michaels in Woolverstone.

The earliest evidence of human habitation is of a bronze age settlement situated on the road leading down to Cat House (by the Marina). Here, flint tools, broken pottery and bones of the period have been found. Legend has it that Woolverstone gets its name from a Danish or Norse chieftain called Wulf. It has been said that where the Church now stands there once stood a large glacial stone. This spot had supposedly been held sacred, and on this stone, Wulf the Rover was said to have sacrificed a poor native in honour of his god, and hence – Wulf’s Stone. 

The church is dedicated to St Michael the Archangel and was undoubtedly in existence well before the Domesday Book record. Nothing of that early building exists though it was probably built of wood with a thatched roof. It has experienced many re-buildings and renovations during its history and we pick up a record of these in wills of the 15th century. These include bequests for images to be made for the candelbeme (rood beam); for repair of a ‘certain vault’ for a pane of St Jerome; for a ‘new stepyll’ (tower) and for the making of a new porch. Also dating from this period is the Font. Much of the decoration done at this time was destroyed by the Iconoclasts, during the reign of Edward V1, in an attempt to rid the church of idolatry and superstition. Cromwell and his men completed the job removing the angels who held up the Font.

We walk behind the church and take a footpath through a wooded area.

The Wolverston Family From the mid 1300’s for over 200 years the Wolverston family were Lords of the manor. Roger de Wolverston of Wolverston Hall was a rich and powerful man. He was the King’s Escator for Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk in charge of land changes affecting the crown. His son, also named Roger, married Elizabeth, the grand-daughter of Sir John de Holbroke. They had no sons, only three daughters, the eldest of whom married William Latymer of Freston. Thomas, brother of Roger, died in 1443 and in his will left his best armour and helmet, bearing the family coat of arms – three wolves heads in silver, to his eldest son. He may well have fought at Agincourt. Roger, son of Robert, provided much of the material for the building of the porch of the Church, which was built at the end of the 15th century. Philip, the last of the line, was described as a ‘gentleman pirate’ and spent some of his life in the Tower. His daughter Mary, Dame Mary Killigrew, followed in her father’s footsteps and narrowly escaped the death sentence after and incident of piracy in Falmouth Harbour in 1582.

We reach Royal Harwich Yacht Club and find the 1955 Jaguar XK140 we were driving behind on the way up this morning. A beautiful car with sleek lines.

Across the road is the Cat House.

Built in Gothic style, the house is situated by Wolverstone marina, near Cathouse Point. It is Grade II listed and believed to have been used to aid smugglers: after the owner's pet cat had died it was stuffed and displayed in one of the windows when the coast was 'clear'.

We go into The Royal Harwich Yacht Club to get a drink, but we were asked to leave as they have a private function on. They should have put some signs up! Maybe they didn't want us ruffians in there, Haha.

So we sat by the river and ate our lunch and drank a can of Brixton Pale Ale with us that Mike had bought along.

Woolverstone is now home to the Ipswich High School, which moved to the vacated premises of the former Woolverstone Hall School in 1992 after having been well established in Ipswich since 1878. The Woolverstone Marina and the Royal Harwich Yacht Club are also located in the vicinity.

HMS Woolverstone, a Royal Navy landing craft training and loading base, was housed in the school and used moorings in the River Orwell between 1943 and 1944.

We walk on following a path that hugs the Riverside.

We found a rope swing further up, how can you resist a go on a swing by the river!

The path leads out into a potato field before heading back along the river.

We arrive back at Pin Mill and take a few photos before we head to the pub.

The Grindle is a small stream that flows alongside Pin Mill Common down to the Pin Mill Hard on the foreshore. It is used by dinghies to ferry sailors ashore.

The Butt and Oyster is an old inn on the River Orwell in Pin Mill, Suffolk.

It was listed for preservation in 1989 and English Heritage dated parts of the structure back to the 17th century. Historical records go back as far as 1456, when a water bailiff held court hearings there. It was subsequently recorded as a public house in 1553. Its name most likely refers to the barrels used to pack and ship oysters.

The Butt and Oyster is featured in the 1937 children's book We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea by Arthur Ransome, who patronised the inn himself. It subsequently appeared in the 1950 movie Ha'penny Breeze and the 1993 TV series Lovejoy, in which it was renamed "The Three Ducks".

We head into the Butt and Oyster PH and I have a Adnams Broadside and South Wold Bitter, Mke ahs Broadside and Jack Brands Mosaic. Sitting by the window taking in the view and smell of seaweed by the river. just lovely!

We walk back up the hill to the car after a walk of  12.3 miles.