Now Google wants me to review the river Blackwater for Heaven's sake. Well, in contrast to my humour, the river Blackwater is very wet. It is not usually black. Usually it is brown or grey - note that my review covers the tidal part. The Blackwater is known for Maldon, ground zero for Thames barges - see photo of late 2017 spring tidal surge. Maldon is picturesque from one or two particular angles, soon to be obscured by the ever-more swolen popilation perambulating the prom. The outer reaches of the Blackwater are bleak and dominated by the emasculated bulk of Bradwell nuclear power station, the vitality of which has been replaced by the mincing, listless rotation of Gunfleet windfarm. The Blackwater empties into the Thames estuary between the rivers Crouch and Colne. A well timed tide will carry you a long way - Suffolk, Kent or the near European continent. You could hang a right as the tide turns and find yourself in St Catherine's Dock, London by the end of the day. Pick a nice day, of course, and imagine the Vikings sailing up the river to Maldon for their epic battle. I bet it didn't look a lot different. No power station or wind farm though. And more trees either side. And less people perhaps. There is still some occasional fighting on a Saturday night in Maldon. Not with Vikings to my knowledge.

Many trees lopped for what reason i no not.

Lovely foot path walks

Fabulous for paddleboarding and kayaking nice stretch of water.

Not sure how you rate a river. 5 stars for water flowing in a very pleasant manner. Wildlife either side looked like they liked the river too.

Lovely dog walks around the nature reserve

Amazing.

Beautiful!.. no amenities no signal just perfect

Lovely estuary with wide expanses of salt marsh, extensive views and a good walk along the sea wall. Lots of bird life to look at and some fishing for sea bass, if you have any patience!

As rivers go it look wet and runs in and out like most other rivers, will visit again.

Another quite wet river. Not as black as its name suggests.

TSBT trips are very good.