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Monday 2 April 2018

A-Z Challenge 2018 - British Rivers: 'B' Blyth, Bovey

When I chose the River Blyth in Northumberland I had no idea that there was another of the same name in Suffolk.

Their Old English name means gentle, cheerful, quiet or merry. I'll let you judge the truth of that.


River Blyth in Humford Woods, Northumberland
It has a tributary, the River Pont which at 11 miles long is only just less than half the Blyth's 27 miles as it wends its way through south Northumberland to enter the North Sea at the port of Blyth.

The River Blyth in Suffolk enters the North Sea much further south than Northumberland

Boat moorings on the Suffolk River Blyth, looking downstream from the Southwold-Walberswick footbridge.
River cruises are run on the Blyth Estuary which is a haven for birds like the marsh harrier, herons and cormorants The cruise lasts about 3.1/2 hours and stops off for a pub lunch.

River Bovey at Bovey Tracey, with Tracey Mill Park on the left.
The River Bovey rises on the eastern side of Dartmoor in Devon; it is a tributary of the River Teign which enters the English Channel at Teignmouth

It gives its name to the Bovey geological formation, the source in Roman times of ball clay which they used for ceramics. Later these clays were also used to make tobacco pipes.

Photo attributions:

  • River Blyth at Humford Woods, Northumberland: 5 Nov 2006 ex geograph.org.uk by George Burrell - CC BY-SA 2.0 licence
  • Boat moorings on the Suffolk River Blyth: 7 Dec 2008 ex geograph.org.uk by Bob Jones - CC BY-SA 2.0 licence
  • River Bovey at Bovey Tracey: 13 Feb 2010 ex geograph.org.uk by David Hawgood - CC BY-SA 2.0 licence

9 comments:

Jo said...

Makes me think of Hail to thee blythe spirit, i.e. gentle I always thought. they are lovely rivers although I am unfamiliar with them. Didn't even know the one in Suffolk and a number of my family came from there and I spent a lot of time in Suffolk.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Bob - love seeing your photos .... and yes cheerful makes sense for Blythe ... Bovey - I didn't know that was there the clay for pipes came from ... delightful read - cheers Hilary

Nilanjana Bose said...

Beautiful photos and rivers. Blyth totally does tie in with cheerful.

Nilanjana
Madly-in-Verse

Wendy said...

On my bucket list is to do a narrowboat vacation somewhere in England, but I doubt that will happen. I could be happy doing a short river cruise and pub lunch, I think.

Emily in Ecuador said...

The boat ride down the river, watching scenery and birds, sounds relaxing.

Emily In Ecuador | Boats in Puerto Lopez

Heather Erickson said...

This makes me want to visit England!

Kristin said...

I like the wild rocky river in the first photo.

http://findingeliza.com/

Iain Kelly said...

Lovely photographs, does indeed look a gentle and calm river to visit.
https://iainkellywriting.com/2018/04/02/b-is-for-birkirkara-malta/

Jemima Pett said...

You made me get out my map then, since Blythburgh is several miles away of the Southwold-Walberswick footbridge. I never realised that huge estuary then went into the narrow navigation channel to get to the coast. Although, come to think of it, it's much the same further north at Breydon Water narrowing to get through the gap at Great Yarmouth.
I really should know my region better.
Jemima, blogging from A to Z on my writing inspirations