Pool Side

Bywater Pool, or simply 'the Pool' as it was commonly known, was a small lake that formed on the course of the Water as it ran past Bywater village. As the Bywater Road led out of Bywater and headed northwestwards towards nearby Hobbiton, it ran along the southern banks of the Pool, a stretch that was known to locals as Pool Side. Before the War of the Ring, this part of the road was bordered by trees, forming an avenue along Pool Side.

During Sharkey's rule in the Shire, the trees forming this avenue were cut down, and a row of ugly houses were built along Pool Side instead. After Sharkey's defeat, the Hobbits worked to put the Shire back to rights, and Sam Gamgee planted trees across the countryside. He was said to have paid special attention to Bywater and Hobbiton, which can likely be taken to mean that a new avenue would have grown up along the course of the Pool Side road after the War of the Ring.