Pin Mill on the River Orwell, famed for the Butt and Oyster pub and the location for two of Arthur Ransome's books (Secret Water and We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea) has now had a face lift. After eight years of hard work and a £300,000 investment, a new hard and barge repair facility are complete and have been handed over to the Pin Mill Bay Management Company, a new 'community interest' company.

The handover ceremony took place on the 16th September on the Hard against the backdrop of the S/B Melissa, a recently restored Thames Sailing Barge, with a number of smaller vessels alongside.

Babergh Councillor Bryn Hurren, who chaired the initial working group that brought together the current partners, which includes the Parish Council, the National Trust, Associated British Ports, the houseboat owners and Pin Mill Sailing Club, stated "it is immensely satisfying to see the results of all our collective hard work and co-operation being realised in this way. Whilst eight years ago, the shoreline at Pin Mill was a bit of a sorry site and its future uncertain, the new community interest company inherits a modern facility and an approach to sorting out problems that addresses the expectations of all people who live, work and take their recreation at this iconic Suffolk site".

According to Jon Humby, Commodore of the Pin Mill Sailing Club, "we are very proud to have been involved and to support the redevelopment of the Hard and surrounding area and very much look forward to working alongside the Pin Mill Bay Management Company in using and promoting these facilities in the years to come."

"For our club members who regularly use the hard and also the many visiting yachtsman from home and abroad who visit Pin Mill the recently completed improvements will greatly improve the unique and traditional experience of launching and recovering dinghies and small craft at all states of the tide. Our thanks go to all other parties involved for their eight years of hard work, and funding making these improvements possible."

So now it should be possible to anchor up and vist the Butt and Oyster for a pint and their star quality fish and chips without bringing half the river bed into the pub.