the navigation at Halesworth and another along the north bank of the river towards Southwold harbour, the railway still had an effect on the navigation, use of which declined until the Commissioners advertised that they were no longer deriving any income from it in 1884, and would therefore cease to maintain it. In 1894 the Commissioners voted to ask the Board of Trade for a warrant to allow the navigation to be abandoned. Despite this, a trader from Halesworth called Fred Lambert brought a wherry called Star to the river, and carried coal from the harbour at Southwold to Halesworth until 1911. He estimated that the cost of repairing the navigation was £1,000, but he could not raise the money to carry out the work. The Southwold Railway finally built a branch to the harbour in 1914, as part of a plan to relieve congestion of the harbours at Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft during the herring fishing season. The outbreak of war prevented its use for this purpose, although it was useful when coastal defences were being built in the area. The harbour declined until it was sold back to the Southwold Corporation in 1932, while the navigation finally ceased on 19 February 1934, when an act of abandonment was obtained under section 41 of the Land Drainage Act 1930. Remains The swing bridge which carried the railway over the river was widened in 1907, and was removed at the outbreak of World War II. It has since been replaced by a fixed Bailey Bridge to provide access on foot to Walberswick. With the demise of the locks, the river levels have fallen, so that it is difficult to imagine that wherries once reached Halesworth. The embankments enclosing the saltings below Blythburgh have been breached, and once more a large inland lake forms when the tide is high. Southwold harbour is used for moorings, and can accommodate 110 boats, while navigation is still possible to Blythburgh, although the Bailey bridge restricts access to smaller boats. There have been sporadic efforts to restore the canal for navigation, but the resultant flooding of bordering land has made this unpopular. On 27 May 2016, Gerald Burns canoed from Halesworth to Southwold, carrying a sack of malt in his boat, which he delivered to Adnams Brewery in Southwold. The purpose of the journey was to raise funds for the restoration of New Reach at