A week or so ago I was chatting to an fellow angler who called the pool I was fishing on the river Tees the "Maiden's Pool". This aroused my interest in local history: why is it called the "Maiden's Pool" and what are the names (and stories) of the other pools along the river?

I've been doing a bit of research, but so far with only limited success. So, I thought I'd ask on here: do any Tees anglers know the names of any of the pools on the river and any off the reasons they are so named?


I love this social history and it would be a real shame if some of the names of the pools on the Tees (or any other rivers I guess) are lost because they are not written down or recorded anywhere.

Thanks in advance for any help on this.

Daran

Don't know about any except for the barrels at broken scar............

I fish a lot in Scotland where just abooot every watter has a named pool ye ken............. why don't we do that in England??

I find it adds to the experience of fishing in God's country having a beat map in your pocket with named pools on it..........jeez I can faintly hear bagpipes............

You know what i dont know of anyone naming the pools. Maybe they were years ago but the names have been lost down the line.

or maybe i have just been speaking to the wrong people

Andy

Pool naming tends to be a practice reserved for salmon rivers - the tees (before the stupid barrage ) had good runs of salmon so I expect it's a relic from salmon fishing times.

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I'm not sure it's all about salmon pools. There's a pool at Gainford called the High Boat Pool which, apparently, is named after a, now defunct, ferry crossing between Gainford and the village of Barforth on the Yorkshire bank. Pictures still exist of the boat used for the crossing.

Daran

Not the tees, but i've caught salmon in pools called delightful names such as 'The black sheep sh it pool' and the 'Vicar fu...g' pool I didn't ask why.

Cruncher pool. Valentines pool. are two on the Tees. There are some historical links with some pool names but others are just names pure and simple.

BK

hartlepool.........
well its on the mouth of the tees

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Very similar situation with rivers in the PNW.

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Hi BK,
thanks for this reply. Can you describe whereabouts these two pools are?

Daran