Timeless Pin Mill
- Chris O'Shea
- Feb 21, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 4, 2023
Pin Mill is a small hamlet set by the River Orwell in Suffolk. It lies within an area of outstanding natural beauty and is a designated conservation area. It was in the past a landing point for large ships to offload cargo onto shallow Sailing Barges for onward transportation up the river. The red-sailed Thames Sailing Barges are still a common site - they were once built at Pin Mill at one of the many boating yards such as Harry Kings & Sons. Pin Mill has a Timeless charm with lovely walks along the river bank, watching sailboats effortlessly skimming by with the sun-setting on the distant horizon.
How to Get There
Pin Mill is situated to the south east of Ipswich, on the Shotley Peninsula in Suffolk. Drive through Woolverstone and into Chelmondiston. Go past the Red Lion Public House on the right and take the minor road (Pin Mill road) on the left after another 100 yards. The minor road will take you down to Pin Mill and the river. There is a Pay and Display car park (postcode IP9 1JJ) that charges 30 pence per hour between the hours of 9-5 pm.
What's of Interest at Pin Mill
Pin Mill has a 17th Century Public House 'The Butt and Oyster' which is well renowned for good ales and fantastic meals. You can sit outside overlooking the river in the summer months and relax and watch the world go by.
Pin Mill studios located in the old salt loft, houses a gift shop and cafe along with a small photographic studio run by Anthony Cullen.
The famous children's author Arthur Ransome best known for 'Swallows and Amazons' lived on the other side of the river to Pin Mill and was a keen sailor. He also authored the book 'We didn't mean to go to Sea' whilst at Pin Mill and in it he immortalised life on the river at that time. There is a trail named after him that leads from Pin Mill to Shotley that commands spectacular views across the Orwell Estuary. The walk is around 6 miles and follows the shoreline for most of the route and runs through National Trust Woodland. The woodlands contains a variety of trees including Oak; Ash; Elm; Birch, Hawthorn, etc. The mudflats along the shoreline are a haven for wildlife and vast numbers of wading birds visit during the winter months. It takes around 3 hours to complete the walk and conveniently there is a number 202 bus that you can catch back to Pin Mill.
Heading past the Butt and Oyster along the path into the woodlands you will come across several house boats moored along the shore-line. A little further and you will come across a number of rotting abandoned boats that lie stricken and battered by the weather which has taken its toll on them over the years. This is a great location for a photo-shoot as you can get right up close to the boats (as long as you check the tides as the Orwell River is tidal. You can check the tides here). There is an air of mystery surrounding the boats and you can't help wonder what the history is behind the people who built and sailed in them in the distant past.
When to go for the best Photography and Shooting Tips
Ideally early in the morning or late evening as the sun is going down over the horizon (the 'blue' hour' as it is called) but you will always find something whatever time of day - you just need to adjust to the conditions. For example in bright mid-day sun choose a location where the harsh light from the sun is blocked out by buildings or trees. Otherwise you can choose to do some close-up shots.
For a photo-shoot of the shipwrecks be aware of the tides as already mentioned above and bring some wellies or boots as it will be muddy along the shoreline.
Check beforehand to see when sun-set will happen on the day you plan to visit, so you can take some time to set up your shot in advance. Weather apps will sometimes let you know the sunset time for the day, while more specialised landscape photography apps can calculate the precise angle of sunset, shadow lengths, and other in-depth info. I would recommend Photopills - it comes with a small charge but its worth it for the functionality it offers. For example, to capture the shipwrecks with the sun-rising on the opposite side of the river you would need to be there between May and August - you will not be able to catch the sunset. Be sure that your lens and sensor are clean! The dramatic lighting conditions will throw annoying speckles of dust and dirt into even more obvious focus.
The best sunset pictures showcase the effects of the sunset on nearby objects, or on the surrounding landscape, using the saturated lighting to its full potential to bring out the contrast in colours. Hence, you do not always have to have the sunset in the frame.
Set the aperture number high (between f/11 and f/16) to get the largest possible depth of field and keep as much of the scene in focus as possible. Shooting at a high f-stop can also create a cool starburst effect in your sunset photo. Keep your ISO (sensitivity of the sensor on your camera) as low as possible in order to avoid graininess. Keep in mind, though, that you might have to crank the ISO higher as the sun goes down and the scene becomes dimmer in order to keep your f-stop number high. The auto white balance setting generally works fine, though you may want to experiment with the daylight, cloudy, or even shade settings to bring out different tones in the image - you can get more yellow, purple, pinkish, or red sunset pictures in this way (similar to what you see in photography landscape magazines).
Also use a Polarising filter if you have one available - generally used to deepen colour and cut down on reflections. Most important though is to experiment and try something new - that's always the best way to learn.
I went over this image using a set of specialist oil brushes in Photoshop. Prior to applying the oil brushes I increased the colour saturation to really bring forward the strong blue colours in the sky and boat in the foreground to add a sense of drama. I will talk about the versatility of the brushes and the effects you can achieve in a future blog.
'Shipwrecks cast in time
just old timbers weathered
by salty marshes and tidal flows
relics of long lost memories
of lives past away'
The Observatory at Orwell Park School on the opposite shore can be just be seen in the previous image. The Observatory was built in 1872 was restored in 1967 after falling into dis-repair. It is now run by the Orwell Astronomical Society based in Ipswich.
I used a special effects Plug-in to give the 'painterly' look above. I will talk more about special effects and plug-ins in a future blog.
I hope you found this blog useful. Constructive comments always welcome. Please note the photographic images that appear on this blog are not full/high resolution. High resolution images (plus many others) can be purchased as professional quality prints or mounted on various media through my on-line shop.
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