 Note that in general usage, the 'left (or right) bank of a river' refers to the left (or right) hand bank, as seen when looking downstream.Where a named river derives from the confluence of two differently named rivers these are labelled as (Ls) and (Rs) for the left and right forks (the rivers on the left and right, relative to an observer facing downstream).A prime example is the River Tyne (MS), the confluence of the South Tyne (Rs) and the North Tyne (Ls) near Hexham.