This is the view out from Bourne Bridge which carries Wherstead Road over Ostrich Creek at the southern edge of Ipswich. On the left is the Orwell Yacht Club and to the right Fox’s Marina.
Out of picture is the Oyster Pub, Wherstead, which was known as the Ostrich Inn until the late 1990’s. The inn, which is thought to date from 1612, for many years bore the crest of Sir Edward Coke, who was Chief Justice under James I from 1613 to 1616, and owned the nearby Bourne Hall. Coke’s crest featured an ostrich with a horseshoe in its beak.
The Inn was just far enough out of Ipswich to make it a popular destination for nineteenth century day trippers who could enjoy country walks, a trip on the Orwell on one of the many pleasure-boats moored at the creek and of course the ale available at the bar.
The lower picture below shows a number of freighters moored at the head of the Orwell in Ipswich docks.
