Report content as inappropriate
Original Text (Annotation: EPW048789 / 1430797)
'
These two hills are Ballast Hills. We also had them in Hebburn and Jarrow. When the old coal ships returned they needed something to weigh them down or they'd just bob around high in the water, so they'd fill up with sand and gravel called ballast. This ballast then had to be emptied before they could fill up with coal hence ballast hills were created along the riverside. Today the modern shipping uses water as ballast which can be pumped out quickly. '