Gateshead, Wyses Pul Fishery

Wyses Pul in 1128, Wythes pole. 'Wiht' is in Old English a bend in a river or valley, weir of the river bend or at the bends. 'Widde' is old English for a with, an osier twig, a willow. Thus 'weir where withes are cut'. The main catch would have been salmon, but in fact a wider range of fish would have been taken (eg. Eels, pike, minnow, burbot, trout and lamprey' {G.N. Garmondsway (ed), 1939, 'Aelfric's Colloquy', pp 101-2}.