Hidden Treasures

One look at those rabbits and you know you’re in an area that’s somewhat out of the ordinary. It’s quite a small place, the valley, but it has more tales to tell than you’d ever imagine. The walk today felt very special: the mix of people who didn’t know the area at all, and others who go way back, who know all the old stories, the hidden treasures, and all the ups and downs. I’m somewhere in between, and still there’s so much to learn and to explore. I think I’ve just fallen in love again with the same ‘old fella’.

Extreme Darkness

I had my first trip down the Victoria Tunnel today, I have known about its existence for some time but never experienced it in the flesh. The most memorable moment was when the gudes turned of the lights and played a tape of a train at full speed. It is a quite terrifying experince in the middle of the blackest void in the universe, well sort of.

Paddling in the Ouseburn

I was born in Ouseburn and stayed here until I was three years old. I remember my two older brothers paddling and swimming in the river. We lived beside a sort of mini-supermarket called Mary Ellen's not far from the Ship Inn. Often on Sunday's we strolled down to the Quayside market place.

My dad used to work at the Lead works. I can remember he used to tell us about his Friday night drinking trips up the river with his work mates.

Ken Brown
Staffordshire

Thomas the Cat

When Prince Charles visited Ouseburn Farm, resident Lime Street cat Thomas, who turned out to be Thomasina, had her television debut sitting next to him on ITV news.

The day the cow escaped

My son remembers visiting the farm when he was four years old and witnessing the bizarre sight of a cow breaking free and running down the road heading off towards the Tyne. All of his school pals were killing themselves laughing at the attempts of the farm workers to cajole and coax the animal back to where it belonged. Eventually the cow allowed itself to be cornered and led back. This is the sort of thing you never expect to experience when visiting an inner city farm!

mysteriously familiar

In the Ouseburn today we passed beside a giant chimney on our memory walk. It rises from the ground in the heart of the valley, unmissable and mysterious - or familiar if you see it every day of your working life like me. It was so familiar that I'd stopped marvelling at its strange squatness.  But to this group, the chimney was something totally new.  I knew its history inside out. I could tell them about why it lost its top half. I could explain about its link tothe old mill over the road. Instead I took them to a rusted metal door set by an artist into the side of the chimney.  There were tiny snippets of memories carved into the metal. Nothing to do with the chimney, really, but satisfyingly mysterious and magical, very 'Ouseburn'. I watched the group peer curiously at the carved words and realised I was reliving the rush of excitement when I saw the door for the first time. It was a good feeling. The proper history could wait.

The Ouseburn Valley is a place where people want to leave their mark and care about those who have. It is determined to make history and I do not doubt that it will considering that people have been engraving their marks on the red brick walls, stones and doors since the days of the industrial revolution up until today.
The strange short notes that can be found on the wooden door of the old chimney may not tell the stories of great heroes but they let us know that these people were once 'there'.