Looking Back at the Pow Burn

Few people in North Shields are aware of the Pow Burn, which was once an important tributary of the River Tyne.
Pow Burn.Pow Burn.
Pow Burn.

Now mainly culverted and hidden, it ran from its source near Preston Village and entered the Tyne in the now Fish Quay ‘Gut’. It was navigable for half-a-mile inland. By creating the first safe anchorage place for ships entering the Tyne, it was responsible for the origin of North Shields and created the valley Northumberland Park occupies. It provided drinking water for St Leonard’s Leper Hospital and industries on Tanners Bank.

Local author Mike Coates has re-issued his book The Pow Burn, chronicling the story of this waterway, with 70 additional pictures and 40 additional pages, including the regeneration of Northumberland Park and findings from the three-year archaeological investigation of St Leonard’s.