At first glance visitors to Ipswich Waterfront see a marina packed full of yachts and motor boats all bobbing up and down on their moorings.
However, it’s not long before you realise there is much more to the area than weekend sailors and their cruisers. There are three boat trip vessels based at the marina, one of which is Victor, a magnificent old Thames barge.
Tourists can board Victor for river trips down the River Orwell towards Harwich, Felixstowe and the North Sea.
During the week there is also working traffic. Ships, such as this cargo ship, Suntis, shown here delivering a cargo of timber, arrive from ports across the North Sea. Boatyards dotted along the quays are busy even during the summer months moving sail boats and cruisers lifting them in and out of the water for regular maintenance.
These big old, Thames barges have been sailing up and down the River Orwell transporting cargoes to and from Ipswich docks for over 100 years and the other weekend another four joined Victor mooring up at the Neptune Marina.
Although the boatyards are closed on Sundays, it can still be busy at weekends as various motor powered RIBs and other inflatable craft buzz around the dock area in between the tacking dinghies.
So that is a Sunday snapshot of Ipswich, one of England’s oldest towns, reinventing itself for the 21st century.
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Agnes Ashe 
That looked as really interesting few hours, with workaday vessels, pieces of history, play-time boats all making their contribution. Great photos too.
I love looking at ships, especially ships with sails, even though I have never been on one! I wish if I had an opportunity to learn how to handle a sailing boat. Feeling winds and catching them must feel like you are in tune with the nature. I would love that (^-^)