The Blyth Navigation was a canal in Suffolk, England, running 7 miles (11 km) from Halesworth to the North Sea at Southwold.

[2] The volume of water which drained from the saltings on every tide kept the mouth of the river scoured, and enabled Southwold to develop as an important, though minor, port.

Having made the estimate, Edwards was responsible for completing the work to that price, but failed to attend most of the meetings which the commissioners called.

[9] The New Reach joined back up with the Town River a little further to the west, in order to provide the water supply for the locks.

Each time his contract was to be renewed, they attempted to reduce his salary, and so he left and was replaced by his assistant William Bickers.

The plan was poorly thought out, and soon afterwards the condition of Southwold harbour was deteriorating, largely due to the deposition of silt, which made access difficult.

The canal engineer John Rennie was asked to advise on a course of action, but although his report of 6 January 1820 pointed to the embanking of the saltings as the cause of the problem, he could offer no acceptable solution.

[11] The swing bridge which carried the railway over the river was widened in 1907,[14] and was removed at the outbreak of World War II.

[11] The embankments enclosing the saltings below Blythburgh have been breached, and once more a large inland lake forms when the tide is high.

It includes part of the towpath, and the spur which enabled wherries to reach the maltings from Langleys Quay, which subsequently became a tarmac footpath.

In 1993 a community group was set up to turn the New Reach into a resource for the town, but frustration at the difficulties of negotiating water levels and flooding in that year let to the plans being dropped.

The purpose of the journey was to raise funds for the restoration of New Reach at Halesworth, which played an important part in the industrial history of the town.