Twee Gebroeders on the quay in Woodbridge
Built in 1897, she measures 64ft in length and offers guests the ultimate, quirky romantic break. Enjoy a glass of wine on deck or walk into the quaint market town of Woodbridge, for a choice of fabulous pubs and restaurants. Comfy, cosy cabin bedrooms. Fabulous views from the portholes. No expense has been spared in the restoration of this beautiful old barge.
Wonderful river walks from your gangplank.
Woodfarm Barges in the press!
Onderneming appeared in The Times’ “Best Unusual Holiday Homes” and “Ten best places to stay by a river” articles, and Twee Gebroeders was in their feature on “Love Nests: Great Places for two”. She also appeared in The Daily & Sunday Mail articles on unique floating holidays. Both Barges are moored on quays as opposed to offering sailing holidays; think of them as floating holiday cottages.
Twee Gebroeders’ finer details
She was lovingly restored in 2008 from the hull upwards and no expense was spared, including all of the cabinetry and the centrepiece of the saloon, the fabulous cast iron oil-fired range supplying heating, hot water and cooking on board.
She offers comfortable self-catering accommodation for up to 4 in 2 cabins; 1 double and 1 twin. She also has a modern shower room, an open saloon with a beautiful range cooker, and outside there’s a lovely open cockpit with teak seating to relax, unwind and enjoy the views of the river and The Tidemill. All of the bespoke cabinetry inside was hand-crafted by a local furniture maker and she features wonderful handmade tiles in the shower room in the Dutch Delft style, in keeping with her heritage.
Please note that the bedrooms are cabins as she is a narrow barge. The double is a really comfy standard double memory foam mattress, and the singles are just small singles (also comfy memory foam), ideally suited for kids, but can accommodate adults.
Twee Gebroeders is fully centrally heated at no extra cost to you.
Measuring 64ft in length, she is modest compared to our other Dutch Barge Onderneming up the road at Snape Maltings. One enters this beautiful ‘little’ (hardly!) Barge at the stern (back end!) into the saloon, which offers a multi-functional living area. It includes a comfy L-shaped upholstered seating area, folding nautical table, galley with bespoke Iroko cabinetry, granite worktop to the galley kitchen and a fabulous cast-iron range cooker as the focal point. There’s a fridge/ freezer and bags of storage space. You’ll find a flat screen TV, DVD player and lots of DVDs, CDs, books and board games.
A corridor leads off the saloon to the rest of the Barge.
The twin cabin
A perfect den for kids but will also sleep two adults with full-sized single bunks and high-quality memory foam mattresses. More bespoke Iroko cabinetry provides ample storage space. TV. Individual reading lights.
The shower room
This luxurious shower room features a full-height quadrant shower and Aquilisa shower with lashings of hot water. There’s a full-sized “proper” loo too, which is rare on a vessel of this size.
The tiles were hand-painted in the Dutch Delft style by the Norton Tile Company and feature Avocets, which are in abundance on the Deben and perhaps Suffolk’s best known bird. Towel rail/ radiator and opening porthole.
The main cabin
A full-sized, fitted double bed, with a comfy memory foam mattress. More bespoke Iroko cabinetry giving you storage and hanging space. Wall-mounted TV and DVD player, individual reading lights and decorative ‘Weems and Plath’ oil lamps, as well as four opening portholes.
Dog friendly
We welcome up to three dogs on board and we have a reputation for combining luxury, with a highly open, dog-friendly approach. The best of both worlds for you and your dogs. You have the most stunning river walks in either direction, directly from the gangplank.
In case you’re worried, we do have Doggy life jackets on board.
Location
Twee Gebroeders is moored so this is not a sailing holiday. She is static, but due to her size and weight you will not really feel her moving.
Woodbridge is a little town with a big personality where you will find plenty to see and do.
The Waterfront and quayside is a colourful mix of vessels from barges to sailing yachts presided over by the town’s iconic Tidemill. Step off Twee Gebroeders and you will find yourself in the impressive new ‘Whistocks’ leisure development built on the historic boatyard, with restaurants, cafés and coffee shops a mere stone’s throw away. What more could you want?
The Barge is moored on a public quay, with the nearest parking at the Train Station, just a two-minute walk. You can drive to The Tidemill directly to drop off luggage though.
Out & About
If you do actually want more, then you have access to some of the best of the British coast, with historic Orford and Aldeburgh within half an hour, or you could carry on up the coast a little to Dunwich, Walberswick and Southwold; all well worth a visit. We have a few bikes available on board.
There has been a mill on the quay at Woodbridge for over 800 years. The present building dates back to 1793 and is one of only 5 tide mills left in Britain only two of which, including Woodbridge, are in working order. At 40 foot high the white clapperboard mill makes an imposing sight overlooking the gentle waters of the Deben.
Step off the gangplank onto the quay and you have wonderful walks along the river bank in both directions. Walk North along the river to Wilford Bridge, which is the limit in a sailing boat. If you had a canoe you could carry on through reedbeds between meadows for another mile or so. You can walk it too.
Walk South along the river path and you’ll soon be at Kyson Hill, owned by the National Trust. There’s a slipway and boatshed at Kyson point, where the path turns right, running alongside Martlesham Creek. It’s a wonderful walk to the other end of the creek. This is the point where the freshwater of the River Fynn meets the tidal river water.
Wherever your feet take you along the River Deben you’re likely to experience a wide range of wading birds and if you’re very lucky, the occasional seal. Having spent a lot of time on the Deben we’ve seen them many times. There’s a large number of swans on the Deben too, and the very tame turnstones are fun to watch wading about in the mud at low water.
The quayside is just a short walk from the centre of this atmospheric little town, with a wonderful assortment of independent retailers and businesses, as well as some superb local cafes and restaurants. There’s even a tiny cinema within five minutes of Twee Gebroeders, with its own excellent bar and restaurant.
Woodbridge is also home to a couple of really nice parks, a model boating lake, a fully functioning windmill right next to your barge, tons of history with some stunning architecture, a museum and just over the river you have Sutton Hoo, an ancient Viking site, operated and owned by the National Trust.
Getting here;
Twee Gebroeders
Bass Dock
Woodbridge
IP12 1BW
From the A12 in either direction turn off for Woodbridge and simply follow the road through the town to the riverside, keeping a lookout for signs to ‘The Tidemill’ with this symbol. It is so iconic, it’s dead easy to find.
Important information about our Barges:
A stay aboard one of our Barges is unique, and has some differences to a standard holiday cottage. Here is some important info for you to be aware of.
Both of our Barges are moored on Quays. You are not able to take them out, nor do we offer trips. Think of them as floating holiday cottages.
We have Macerator pumps on all the toilets on our barges. We have signs up saying that wet wipes, sanitary products and nappies must not be flushed down the toilet. This will result in a broken pump and we will have to charge for replacement. They are £400, plus fitting. We provide the appropriate bags and bins for the disposal of items such as described above.
Additionally, these ‘holiday cottages’ are boats on water. We ask that you take great care and attention at all times and we cannot be held responsible in any way for any incidents or accidents whilst aboard. We cannot stress this enough. They are boats. We’ve made that fairly clear. And boats are a little different, that’s why you book them. It’s a unique holiday but access is not the same as a cottage. Just check out the videos and you’ll get a good feel for each barge and it’s location. They are not suitable for disabled or infirm guests and there’s nothing we can do about it.
We cannot stress enough, these are boats. They are on the water. You may experience a diesel or heating oil smell as that’s how the barges are heated. As with all boats heated in this way we cannot avoid this, but both systems are regularly checked and serviced to ensure correct and safe operation. We also need to carry out maintenance such as refuelling, emptying of grey water tanks etc, and this may well need to be done whilst you are on board. We will do our level best to ensure you are not disturbed, but these routines are necessary.
Neither of our Barges are suitable for disabled or less agile guests. They are both accessed via gangplanks and steps across water due to the very nature of this unique kind of holiday. Similarly the tides rise and fall twice a day and we can’t do anything about that. It’s a planet thing. This means the gangplanks will be steeper either up or down at certain times of the day. Both have secure handrails though.
In adverse weather they may face unique challenges, but they do offer a unique break. Twee Gebroeders is connected to a mains water supply, fed along the quay. It is lagged but if it does freeze then you’ll be without running water. You have a key on board for the shower block, which is a short walk and you’ll need to put bottled water down the loo. If we see this coming, we will put some bottles on board for you. We appreciate this would be inconvenient but this is beyond our control and under such circumstances we cannot offer compensation. We’ve really done our best to stress that a barge holiday is different.
