Charlie's Cottage sleeps a couple and happily takes well behaved pets. It is close to The Harbour of Pin Mill where you can enjoy some Classic Yachting experiences even if you are a complete beginner.

It is situated in a very small village overlooking the picturesque harbour of Pin Mill on the River estuary of the Orwell where Arthur Ransom wrote Swallows and Amazons. The village has a great Butchers and general store with lots of local produce, a newsagents and a good pub serving good food.

The Cottage is in an early Victorian terrace of 3 and was always used by boat workers and seafarers, inside there is a large room with a lovely open log fire, old stripped wood floor and a cosy wood paneled wall with a settle where you can eat your meals.

There is a spacious fully equipped kitchen which leads through to a sunny patio garden.

A wrought iron circular staircase takes you upstairs to the landing where the bathroom and bedroom are. The bedroom has a pretty hand-made paneled wall and wardrobe.

There is off road parking in front of the cottage.

The feeling of the cottage is very relaxing and comfortable, with space to spread out. The photos on the walls show some of the earlier ships captains who enjoyed this cottage in the past and some of the boats that the workers would have worked on.

The lovely wood paneling gives a real seafaring feel to the place and the settle creates a comfortable place to relax into and plan the day or have a meal.

Charlie’s Cottage is in a special location being so close to Pin Mill and the Orwell Estuary. You can walk to from across the road and down the couple of meadows to the harbour itself and from there up or down the shoreline as far as you want.
 

Pin Mill is a fabulous place and a complete ‘step back in time‘ with the old Thames sailing barges resting on the foreshore and the excellent Butt and Oyster Pub which once visited becomes the bench mark for all pubs.

There is a boat yard at the harbour and this is where you will find the workshops for the Classic Sailing Club where they restore beautiful old wooden yachts.
 

The Classic Sailing Club has Classic Yachts available for hire or for you to help crew for the day if you are not yet a qualified sailor. Check out their website at www.classicsailingclub.com or call them on  0870 300 1066 

This is a truly unique opportunity to really make something of your weekend and not to be missed.

There is also a Horse Riding School at the end of the village and they will take you out on a 2 hour evening ride down the shoreline or across the peninsular to the River Stour.

Jimmy's Farm which you have probably seen on TV is just a few minutes drive away and a very interesting place to visit with all kinds of animals to see and walks to go on as well as an excellent farm shop and Butchers.

You can hop on the ferry from the end of the peninsular at Shotley and take your bike on a couple of short ferry trips to Old Felixstowe where you can cycle up to Sutton Hoo and check out the Saxon Horde and the excellent Ramsholt Arms which is another really good food pub in a great location situated on the river Deben with its own tiny harbour. You have to be a big fan of the place to go there because it really is in the middle of nowhere, but people do go there and it is usually stacked !

Charlies Cottage is in a lovely area and offers guests some unique and unspoilt places to visit and some great yachting experiences even for the complete novice, we know you will enjoy it.

Charlie's Cottage is on The Shotley Peninsular with the River Orwell on one side and the river Stour on the other. Like all peninsulas it has a special remote feeling as nobody except sailors are passing through - it leads to nowhere except the Sea !

All along the peninsular are tiny little harbours and beaches, little byroads leads into forgotten hamlets and suddenly open up to beautiful views of the Estuary and sea.

In the middle of the peninsular is a large lake 3 miles long called Alton Water. This is a big centre for nature enthusiasts with a special 3 mile nature trail on the South side of the lake which includes a woodland, a butterfly garden, wildflower meadow, ponds and bird hides and has an area for water sports where you can learn sailing and windsurfing.

There is also a 10 mile cross country cycle route, an eighth mile rambling route and fishing for Pike and bream ( a local just caught a 43 pound Mirror Carp there), we supply bikes but if you want you can hire one from the visitor centre.

You can find more information at www.anglianwaterleisure.co.uk and   www.altonwildlife.co.uk

Jimmy's Farm - the one seen on TV and owned by Jamie Oliver's mate is on the peninsular and a fun place to visit and pick up some decent bangers. www.jimmysfarm.com