A visit to Pin Mill, Suffolk

Hulk of MV Hainault

On a showery April Sunday afternoon, gum boots were essential wear to look over the wrecked remains of MV Hainault, beached on the muddy shores of the River Orwell. We were looking for any useable material to utilise on board Heather in her restoration. Hainault was once owned by Jason's father and was lived on by his family at Ipswich Docks. She was originally commissioned as a ferry by the Great Eastern Railway in 1914 and worked from Harwich. Jason supports residential boats.

A quaint houseboat, possibly a converted lifeboat

Adjacent to a host of incredible looking hulks, can be found a motley collection of residential craft of every kind. Berthing below a charming wooded glade, the boats are accessible along a winding graveled public footpath. The path leads off onto docks which serve the individual berths. These are mostly guarded by entrance gates and appear like static drawbridges, strutting out onto the Orwell. Alongside the houseboats are a number of sailing barges ~ synonymous with Pin Mill. The variety of boats here have long been an attraction. The famous Butt and Oyster Inn, cottages and boathouses beyond, provide a perfect backdrop. There are few places that combine boats with atmosphere and living on water.

Pictured from the 'Hard'

A drive or sail down to Pin Mill is highly recommended. The waterside gives a slight impression of the once teeming boat life around Yarmouth, areas of Breydon and the Broads, prior to modern industry and gentrification inevitably changing the landscape. 

Pin Mill



Best Wishes from Heather's crew on St George's Day

Some sentiments expressed by William Shakespeare:

 Love's Labours Lost, 1588

Good Lord Boyet, my beauty, though but mean,

Needs not the painted flourish of your praise:

Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye,

Not utter'd by base sale of chapmen's tongues.

Jason and Chris