The canalised River Blyth on the eastern edge of the market town of Haleworth, Suffolk. England UK
The canalised River Blyth on the eastern edge of the Suffolk market town of Halesworth. The river was canalised, as were many rivers around the country in the18th and 19th centuries before the advent of the railways and when roads weren't worth the name. The seven mile (11km) navigation from Southwold at the river's mouth to Halesworth, which was funded by a mixed bag of shareholder led by a Haleworth brewer called Thomas Knights. It opened in 1761 initially using square-sailed keels and then purpose-built sail traders called wherries which were already in use on the Norfolk Broads to the north. But the navigation never made enough money, partly because of silting problems at the river mouth, and when, in the mid-19th century, the railway network reached the area and a light railway branch line reached Southwold, the navigation was superseded. It closed in 1884.
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Photo credit: © John Worrall / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: blyth, brewer, canal, canalisation, england, halesworth, keel, keels, knights, malster, market, navigation, pre-railway, river, robert, southwold, suffolk, town, uk, wherries, wherry
