The packhorse lane to Newcastle:

The Fowlea Brook was forded at Longport (or Longbridge as it was originally known) - as far as the Potteries was concerned this was one of the most important...... this was the bridge over which the pack mule teams made their way from Burslem to Newcastle, laden with pottery for export.

This track from Burslem, the remains of which are now known as Park Horse Lane, was one of the few true pack horse roads in the Burslem area. The track ran from Burslem, which was set on a hill east of the Fowlea Brook valley, between the previous District Bank at the top of Newcastle Street and the famous manufactory of Enoch Wood.

Pack Horse Lane can still be traced in the upper part of the road on the south side of the old Fountain Place Works, it was part of a long and very old road. In Longport itself there is The Packhorse, a public house.

Wood's Fountain Place factory, Burslem in 1840
Pack Horse lane was entered through the arch

The same location in 2008
Pack Horse lane still exists between the bank on the left and the restored works of Enoch Wood (now converted into flats).

The Pack Horse - Longport
evidence of the route of the packhorse lane from Burslem to Newcastle

On the opposite side of the canal to the wharf was built a new public house in the late 1770s, the Packhorse Inn, to provide accommodation for boatmen and carters and their horses. 

More on Burslem, Enoch Wood and Packhorse Lane

More on Longport

Burslem in 1750 - based on a plan by Enoch Wood
Blue box says "Packhorse PH" - the light blue arrows show Packhorse lane leading to Longport and Newcastle. The red line indicates the location of the frontage of Woods Fountain Place works.

The green arrows show Hill Street (later Liverpool Road and now Westport Road) which led through Church Lawton to Winsford and then to Liverpool. The purple line indicates the frontage of the Hill Works of Wades potteries.