TSE Walk-Pin Mill to Shotley Gate Circular 30th June 2019

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On Sunday the 30th June 2019 I set off on a 1 hour 15 minute drive to Pin Mill for a Walking For Pleasure Team South East Meet. Enroute I stopped off by the Orwell Bridge, I have driven over so many times, it was nice to see it from a different perspective.

The Orwell Bridge is a concrete box girder bridge just south of Ipswich in Suffolk, . Opened to road traffic in 1982, the bridge carries the A14 road (formerly the A45 road) over the River Orwell.

The main span is 190 metres which, at the time of its construction, was the longest pre-stressed concrete span in use in the UK. The two spans adjacent to the main span are 106m, known as anchor spans. Most of the other spans are 59m. The total length is 1,287 metres from Wherstead to the site of the former Ipswich Airport. The width is 24 metres with an air draft of 43 metres; the bridge had to be at least 41 metres high. The approach roads were designed by CH Dobbie & Partners of Cardiff, later bought by Babtie, Shaw and Morton then Jacobs in 2004.

The bridge is constructed of a pair of continuous concrete box girders with expansion joints that allow for expansion and contraction. The girders are hollow, allowing for easier inspection, as well as providing access for services, including telecom, power, and a 711mm water main from the nearby Alton Water reservoir. The necessary inspections still cause major disruption to traffic every six years; during the inspection in the summer of 2005, the delays caused by lane closures and speed restrictions added between 30 and 60 minutes to journey times during the peak commuting periods.

The bridge design took into consideration the impact on the Orwell Estuary, as well as the needs of the port of Ipswich. The location close to the southern edge of Ipswich was deemed convenient for the industrial areas of the West Bank Terminal and Ransomes Industrial Estate on the eastern end. The bridge was set at an angle to the river to get the best relationship to the surrounding terrain.

The air draft of the central span was chosen to be as low as possible without adversely affecting port operations. Although some have said that the resulting hump affects visibility and road safety, there have not been enough incidents causing injury for the Highways Agency to identify it for greater detailed investigation and possible amendments. The consulting engineers were Sir William Halcrow and Partners. Frederick Gibberd Partners worked on the project to ensure the bridge was as sympathetic as possible to its surroundings, with the final design winning the approval of the Royal Fine Art Commission.

The Department for Transport funded the project and, partly because of the bridge, paid for radars and cameras to be installed at the port's Orwell Navigation Service to monitor the river and the bridge.

As of 2006 the bridge was used by 60,000 vehicles per day, about 83% of its capacity. In 2006 it was predicted that the bridge is expected to be running over capacity by 2015.

The bridge appears in the 1987 Cold War drama The Fourth Protocol, in which two RAF helicopters are shown flying under it, and at the end of the 2013 film The Numbers Station.

I 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.

I am still a good half hour early, so I walk down to look about at Pin Mill.

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.

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.

View to The Oyster and Butt PH from the jetty

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.

I meet up with the group of friends from WFP TSE in the car park at 10am and we set off from the car park crossing the road and onto a footpath opposite through a woodland sitting above the River Orwell.

This walk along the banks of the River Orwell on the Shotley Peninsula follows the route of the boat 'The Goblin' sailed by the children in the Arthur Ransome novel 'We didn't mean to go to Sea'.

We get our first look at The Orwell as we walk through the woodland.

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.

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.

Looking back up The River Orwell to the Orwell Bridge (on full zoom)

Although to our left was the beautiful River on our right was also amazing looking farmland, it was all so beautiful.

Huger flock of Canada Geese.

A Poppy

The Orwell provides a popular venue for sailing. Interest originally centred on the hamlet of Pin Mill (featured in two children's novels by Arthur Ransome: We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea and Secret Water), which is home to the Pin Mill Sailing Club and its Hard. Ransome had kept his yacht Selina King at the Pin Mill anchorage in 1937–39.

Since the 1970s marinas have opened at Levington (Suffolk Yacht Harbour, pictured), Woolverstone, Fox's (just outside Ipswich), and two marinas in the old Ipswich Wet Dock. Woolverstone is home to the Royal Harwich Yacht Club that was for many years host to the Swordfish 15-foot racing dinghy built by Fairey Marine, in addition to its 12-foot Firefly, a derivative of the National 12-foot dinghy, both designed by the sailor Uffa Fox. It now hosts a broad range of sailing events, such as the annual 'Junior Race Week'.

Oystercatchers and Black Headed Gulls

A Cormorant on its fishing perch

A large container ship came down the river blowing its horn at the smaller sailing yachts.

As we turn the corner we get our first glimpse at Felixstowe Docks.

We turn off the coast path that leads to Shotley Gate to head inland to visit the Sailors Graveyard.

A barn that is having a conversion to a dwelling I suspect.

We pass by some cottages with a lovely bright flower bed.

We head down another path and we can see the River we just passed as we kinda of double back on ourselves.

We arrive in Shotley.

We head over into St Marys Church.

A former pub?

The church is adjacent to a large naval cemetery cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It has graves from both world wars, not only those of HMS Ganges trainees, but also of Harwich-based warships killed in action with the Germans. There is a memorial to the dead from the 14-18 Harwich submarines.

Although a church building is already mentioned in the Domesday book, the beginnings of the current building go back to 1300 when the present nave and aisles were built. Through the ages people have left their marks on our wonderful building. Some by changing or adding to the building, others by their graffiti! It is only because several layers of lime wash have peeled off the columns that these images have become partially visible.

Outside the church, the large churchyard descends steeply towards the Orwell estuary, and there are simply hundreds of military graves, mainly Royal Navy, but also some for Dutch sailors who were killed near here. It is the last resting place to many generations of seaman, including from HMS Gypsy, which struck a mine in the Orwell and sank.

During the 1939-1945 War, Shotley Gate was the Royal Naval Training Establishment H.M.S. Ganges. There are 99 Commonwealth burials of the 1939-45 war here, including 3 unidentified sailors of the Royal Navy and 1 unidentified seaman of the Merchant Navy. There are 5 Dutch Navy burials here.

Number of casualties: 353

One of the German graves

The Royal Naval Training Establishment, H.M.S. "Ganges" was based at Shotley from 1905 until 1976. As a result, an area (called the Naval Reservation) was set aside in Shotley (St. Mary) Churchyard for navy burials. There are 201 Commonwealth burials of the 1914-1918 war here (8 of which are unidentified) and 34 of the 1939-1945 war (2 of which are unidentified Royal Navy Seaman and 2 of which are Merchant Navy seamen from the S.S. Skagerak). In addition, there are 13 German burials of the 1914-18 war, 1 of which is unidentified. Besides burials, the plot also contains the "Submarine Enclosure," with a memorial to the officers and men of H.M. Submarines and the graves of many, particularly from "C 16," "E 4" and "E 41."

We crossed out of the churchyard and across the road passing Shotley Vineyard, where tours area available.

The Shotley Vineyard is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) overlooking both the river Orwell and the river Stour.

The vineyard hadn't been tended for a few years. The winter pruning commenced in January 2018 in readiness for a 2018 crop. Bacchus grapes which have been given the accolade of the Sauvignon Blanc of the UK are being grown, as well as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for a sparkling wine.

Immediately opposite the church is another Naval Graveyard.

So sad, no-one knew who he was 

We leave the graves behind and head off down Frogs Alley and then taking a footpath over back onto the Riverside. The sun is really burning down on us now, such a hot day!

We rejoin the river with views again to Felixstowe Docks.

Needs a little tender loving care

Again over to our right is more beautiful farmland.

A little Egret

We now reach Shotley Gate Marina after some walking in the sun.

Shotley Marina is ideally situated at the confluence of the Rivers Orwell and Stour.

Shotley Marina with the Water Tower looming above.

We stop here at Shotley Gate for lunch watching the ships loading and yachts gliding by. We got a shady spot under a tree.

Shotley Gate is a settlement to the south of the village of Shotley at the tip of the peninsula.

By about 800 AD, the Vikings or Danes started to make an appearance in this area. Under the Peace of Wedmore in 878, all land north of the old Roman Watling Street, which ran from London to Chester, was given to the Viking leader, Guthrum. Shotley therefore became part of Danelaw. The peace was short-lived however, and following an unsuccessful Viking attack on Kent, Alfred King of Wessex attacked the enemy in East Anglia. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 885 reads as follows: 'The same year sent King Alfred a fleet from Kent into East Anglia. As soon as they came to Stourmouth, there met them sixteen ships of the pirates, and they fought with them, took all the ships and slew the men. As they returned homeward with their booty, they met a large fleet of pirates and fought with them the same day, but the Danes had the victory'. It is possible that Bloody Point at Shotley took its name from this incident, however at that time the river entered the sea north of Felixstowe and so the area would not have been seen as the mouth of the Stour. It could also have derived this name late in the next century when the Vikings returned to the estuary in force, twice plundering Ipswich. Shotley Gate and the parish have a strategic position for protecting the ports of Felixstowe, Harwich and Ipswich and in 1865 the Shotley Battery fortifications were established.

King Edward III camped here early in the Hundred Years War, before the great sea Battle of Sluys. Documents signed by him and kept in the National Archive end with the words "at Shotley".

Shotley Gate also harbours HMS Ganges, a former Royal Navy training establishment (RNTE Shotley) for boys. The teak ship was constructed in 1821 and taken out of service in 1861. It was moved to Shotley in 1899, and by 1905 was moved ashore. A large proportion of the naval ratings of the 20th century, boy entrants in peacetime and men during both world wars, trained there. The training establishment closed in 1976 and the site was subsequently sold for redevelopment. In June 2011 Babergh District Council declared the site a Conservation Area.

The HMS Ganges Museum (open Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays between Easter and the end of October 1100 to 1700hrs) houses artefacts and memorabilia from the old shore establishment including a large collection of photographs and original documents.

View across the Rover Stour to Old Harwich.

The Port of Felixstowe, in Felixstowe, Suffolk is the United Kingdom's busiest container port, dealing with 48% of Britain's containerised trade. In 2017, it was ranked as 43rd busiest container port in the world and 8th in Europe, with a handled traffic of 3.85 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).

We continue our walk and cross the marina by a footbridge that opened shortly afterwards to allow a small yacht to enter the marina.

We passed the Shipwreck PH.  

Passenger ferry to Harwich or Felixstowe. Not at the jetty this time.

Ex lifeboat from the luxury cruise liner SS Canberra. http://www.pandosnco.co.uk/canberra_part_one.html Initially licenced for 120 passengers the boat has now an MCA licence to transport 58 passengers from and to Shotley, Harwich and Felixstowe. The Boat is extremely strong built with 1-2 inch thick fibreglass, wood and metal. We have a 65 passenger life raft, life jackets. She is a pleasure to sail with.

A lovely hotrod, no ideas what it was though.

We walk by the HMS GANGES Museum.  Entry to the museum is free, although all donations are welcome and are used for running costs.

Shotley Pier under renovation.

We stop for a ice cream after watching the swans for a while, whilst we wait for some of the group to catch up.

We follow the path alogn the River Stour for a short while.

A couple of old BSA Motorcyles.

An converted concrete barge, must be hot in there that day with all that glass!

We head off away from the river across farmland to head back to Pin Mill.

At the old house with four chimney stacks we turn left onto a footpath across some fields.

As we turned to go through the gate onto another path we saw a Crow fledgling trying its best to fly , obviously newly out of the nest.

We join the road and turn left

Erwarton Hall Gatehouse

Ewarton Hall - Grade 2 listed building rebuilt in 1575. It is said the Henry V111 & Anne Boleyn stayed there, myth has it that Anne said she wished her heart to be buried in the church near by.Believed to be one of the first brick buildings.

According to legend, Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII often stayed at Erwarton Hall in Suffolk and Anne loved the place so much that she gave instructions that her heart should be buried in the local church. In 1838, during renovations at St Mary’s church, a heart-shaped casket was found set into an alcove in the north aisle. A plaque at the church explains how this casket was reburied beneath the church organ. Legend has it that Sir Philip Parker of Erwarton Hall, Anne’s uncle, was the one who buried Anne’s heart there.

On a website about Shotley (http://www.myshotley.com/shotley-history.html), it says of Erwarton Hall:-

"Erwarton Hall was built during the late sixteenth century, and is said to have been one of the first great English country houses to be built in brick. It also has a superb gatehouse, which was built about 100 year after the main building. The hall has strong historical links with Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII's second wife. The original Tudor mansion was owned by Sir Philip Calthorpe whose wife was Aunt to Anne Boleyn. It is known that Anne spent some of her childhood at the Hall and it is thought likely that Henry VIII visited her there. The two wings were demolished by the new owner, Sir Philip Parker, and the materials used to rebuild the main part in 1575. It changed hands again in 1786 to William Berners. The legend of Anne Boleyn’s heart being buried in Erwarton perhaps began when she is reputed to have said shortly before her execution that the happiest days of her life were spent at the Hall."

If it was built in the late 16th century then Anne and Henry could not have visited it, so I think that the website is referring to the rebuilding work which was done in 1575. Anne Boleyn's paternal aunt, Jane Boleyn, did indeed marry Sir Philip Calthorpe so Anne may well have visited the hall.

We take a path opposite the hall across more fields and passing by some pigs.

We walk through many fields and eventually out onto Main Road in Chelmondiston where we cross and walk along a path back to Pin Mill.

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 now reach Pin Mill after walking along path and back into the car park, We leave our bags in the cars and head off for the de-brief in The Oyster and Butt PH.

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".

After I had a lovely pint of Adnams Wild Wave Cider, I left the group for the drive home.
A fantastic 12 mile walk with friends,sunshine and views. Thanks to Louise for organising and leading the walk.