Walking along the River Orwell

The River Orwell is home to a number of sailing clubs, some stunning scenery and one of our Dutch Sailing Barges, Onderneming (Enterprise in English)

The Butt & Oyster is one of the best known pubs in Suffolk, well known for its great beer, great food and great views. It’s the hub of the hamlet of Pin Mill on the River Orwell and just a gentle stones throw from Onderneming. The pub gets its name from the oyster fisheries, originally a major export from the river Orwell.

The reason we start by mentioning the pub is that Onderneming is moored right next the pub and there are two great walks in either direction, and just after lunch at the pub would be a good idea! Or, as I have done, one before lunch to work up an appetite and one after to work off lunch!

Timeless shores with the most enchanting sounds of nature, you can immerse yourself in an artist’s inspiration and soak up the views of Thames barges, fascinating shipwrecks, swans and all the wonderful array of other wild birds along the River Orwell.

Pin Mill, once a smugglers’ haven, offers beautiful walks and amazing scenery. You can choose to walk upriver past the boatyards and the Pin Mill Sailing Club, or downriver towards the sea, past all the houseboats. Either way you have some amazing views and dogs love it!

Downriver

If you head downriver from the pub away from Onderneming, you’ll be heading towards the sea. There’s a well-worn path through the edge of the forest. It’ll take you a long time to actually get to the sea so I recommend just walking as far as you fancy, then turning back. This is a short walk really, taking in foreshore, woodland and heath. The terrain is mostly easy, walking on grassy and sandy paths. There are some steps on the route and also a steep dip. At high tide you will need to take a higher route past the pub. Or wear wellies!

Upriver

There’s a longer walk upriver in the other direction, across some farmland, through Woolverstone Marina, and it then doubles back around Woolverstone Hall. The terrain ranges from some metalled tracks to footpaths that are likely be muddy in wet weather.

Your dogs will enjoy either route but should be kept under close control, or on a lead. They MUST be on a lead between 1 March and 31 July, to protect breeding ground-nesting birds.

You can look up more details of these walks on the Suffolk Coast and Heaths website.