Black Middens

The Black Middens is a reef at the mouth of the River Tyne in North East England, noted for the danger it poses to shipping.

The Black Middens is particularly dangerous as it is mostly below the water at high tide when shifting sand bars form around it.

The first Volunteer Life Brigade was formed in Tynemouth in 1864, to rescue sailors who navigated into danger despite the lights.

[3] Midden is a Scandinavian word, common in a number of north-east English dialects, used to describe a heap or dump of domestic waste; local legend has it that the devil threw the Black Middens into the Tyne to spoil the rich trade in coal shipped from Newcastle.

[1] A fishery was long based here, extending from the Black Middens to Howdon Head.