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The sunshine, the flowers and the boats on the Orwell River estuary make a fine combination for a local walk.

Leaving the village we climb past old cereal fields and on towards higher ground.



The good quality of the footpath is explained by the signs.	We turn and follow the bridle way across the edges of the field.

One of the houses on Page's Common

which overlooks the old cereal field where the poppies have had time to grow.

We head out across a few more fields in the direction of Wolverstone Park and woodland.

Everything is dry and so the poppies add real colour to the rather dusty looking fields.

Michaelmas Daisies and some yellow ragwort (help please if I'm wrong !)

Careful where you tread . . . a classic Scottish purple thistle.



Some rather nice boats on the river.	Full sail but little wind.

The marina with a hidden view of the high level Orwell Bridge in the distance.

Back alongside the river, we pass the old river boat, now renovated and available for holiday rental

A green Thames barge is moored up near the Butt and Oyster.

The sailing club has built a new pontoon to allow access to the water at most states of the tide.

With the tide in, this young lady helps land her Mirror Dinghy on "The Hard" instead.

The boatyard has lifted one of the boats out of the water in order to do some work on it.

[ The trailer is left in the water and the boat sailed in at high tide . . . it has then been towed out to the road and clear of the water ]

This coastal barge is one of many that has been converted for living accommodation.

Down from the pub there is a whole village of houseboats moored up along the river side.

Back at the pub on a lovely summer evening, the locals and visitors are enjoying the sunshine.

It's Matthew's birthday . . . big kid . . . count the candles !

It's all MINE . . . I think ?

[ Hold your cursor over the picture to help him blow out the candles]

In the evening we adjourned to the Butt for a meal to celebrate further.

Before we leave I wonder down "The Hard" to catch a close-up of the moorings at low tide.

Beaching the barges or larger yachts on the beams allow work to be done, such as painting or cleaning, in the few hours between tides.

This avoids taking them out of the water and gives access to the keel and underside.

Normal mountain techniques applied to a rather grey seascape produces a different panorama from my normal wide photos.

I'm sure they will get better weather by the time of the next tide . . . or the one after.


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