Rowing boat hire in Thorpeness

The Meare at Thorpeness is a shallow, hand-dug boating lake at the heart of this curious purpose-built Suffolk holiday village. Created in 1913 by the Scottish barrister and railway magnate Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie, the Meare was inspired by J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, and its small islands and inlets are dotted with whimsical features named after the story, including Wendy's Home, the Pirates' Lair and Crocodile Island.

Rowing boats, canoes and small sailing dinghies can be hired by the hour from the boatyard on the western shore during the main season. The water is famously shallow, rarely more than a metre deep, which makes it an ideal introduction to rowing for families with young children. Paddlers can spend a happy afternoon weaving between the islands, beaching on little sandy landings and exploring the maze of channels that give the Meare its surprising sense of scale.

The Meare hosts an annual regatta with a fireworks display, traditionally held in August, and is overlooked by the village's celebrated House in the Clouds, a converted water tower disguised as a five-storey weatherboarded cottage. Together with the nearby shingle beach and the village green, boat hire on the Meare is one of the defining Suffolk coastal experiences.