The River Blyth is a river in east

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowesto ...

, England. Its source is near

Laxfield Laxfield is a small ancient village in northern Suffolk, England. It is located at a distinct bend in today's B1117 road. History Laxfield arose in Saxon times as it is known that an early church was there and the village itself appears in th ...

and it reaches a tidal

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environmen ...

between

Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is ...

and

Walberswick Walberswick is a village and civil parish on the Suffolk coast in England. It is at the mouth of the River Blyth on the south side of the river. The town of Southwold lies to the north of the river and is the nearest town to Walberswick, aroun ...

on the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegia ...

coast.

Course

The course of the river passes through agricultural land between Laxfield and

Halesworth Halesworth is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in north-eastern Suffolk, England. The population stood at 4,726 in the 2011 Census. It lies south-west of Lowestoft, on a tributary of the River Blyth, upstream from Southwold. T ...

, flowing through the estate of

Heveningham Hall Heveningham Hall is a Grade I listed building in Heveningham, Suffolk. The first house on the site was built for the politician and regicide William Heveningham in 1658. The present house, dating from 1778 to 1780, was designed by Sir Robert ...

and the village of Walpole before being crossed by the

A144 road The A144 is an A road in the English county of Suffolk. It runs from the town of Bungay, close to the border with Norfolk, to the A12 trunk road near the village of Darsham, passing through the market town of Halesworth. It is around in len ...

and the East Suffolk Line to the south of Halesworth. East of Halesworth the river is canalised in places and has a clear flood plain with land being used as grazing marsh. At

Blythburgh Blythburgh is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is west of Southwold and south-east of Halesworth and lies on the River Blyth. The A12 road runs through the village which is spli ...

it is crossed by the A12 trunk road before entering the estuarine section of the river. The estuary mouth forms the main harbour area of Southwold and is still an active fishing harbour. The estuary is central to the plot of

Peter Greenaway Peter Greenaway, (born 5 April 1942) is a Welsh film director, screenwriter and artist. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Flemish painting in particular. Common traits in his films are the ...

's film ''

Drowning by Numbers ''Drowning by Numbers'' is a 1988 British-Dutch film directed by Peter Greenaway. It won the award for Best Artistic Contribution at the Cannes Film Festival of 1988. Plot The film's plot centres on three married women — a grandmother, her da ...

'', being the scene of the final drowning. The river can be crossed by pedestrians by a public footbridge called the Bailey Bridge about a mile upstream from the sea or by the Walberswick rowing boat ferry.

Navigation

The Blyth Navigation canal was opened in 1761 running from

to the Blyth estuary, leading to the canalisation of the river east of Halesworth. It was insolvent by 1884, partly due to attempts to reclaim saltings at Blythburgh, which resulted in the estuary silting up and partly due to the opening of the

Southwold Railway The Southwold Railway was a narrow gauge railway line between Halesworth and Southwold in the English county of Suffolk. long, it was narrow gauge. It opened in 1879 and closed in 1929. Intermediate stations were at Wenhaston, Blythburgh ...

in 1879. The navigation was used sporadically until 1911, and was not formally abandoned until 1934.

History

The river gives its name to the settlements of Blyford, indicating a formerly important

ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

over the river, and

. The river's name itself comes from an Old English word ''blithe'' meaning "gentle or pleasant".

References

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