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'.

A Mystery Place in Newcatle

When I walked along with Quayside, I was always stoped by a river which is in front of me.It seems the river  seperates Quayside into two parts. I never know that Ouseburn bridge is the entrance of this mystery placce in Newcastle.
Ouseburn valley which is located between Byker and Quayside, owns a large amount heritages becasue of the industrial revolution. However, nowadays, this area has already changed into a new look which is full of artistic designings, gallerries, and workshop studios. In addition, a place in Beijing,China called '798 Art District' seems has the same condition. In that area, you may see the steam train which was used in the past, and also old factories which has already put into used as galleries, studios or stylish shops.
As a whole, Ousburn is definately a wonderful place to visit where you may find new ideas and a sort of historical architectures.

First visit in Ouseburn

I take a walk arround Ouseburn today, which is a industrial area years ago. there are always some buildings which were factories. It is full of memory such as who had been living here and what did he or she do. This i s like a story of a city and also a country. It also like a picture who print a historystory in this area. It is full of memory of all kinds people, full of the development of the city and also the country. As China is a developing country, the story of Ouseburn is now showing in China. When I knew the stories and memories of Ouseburn, I feel that it is the samilar in China. Maybe years later, in China, there will be some area like Ouseburn which full of memories of development. But, there are also a lot of differences, the memories in Ouseburn feels like more happiness, light, hopeful and a little upset. Compareing with China, there may be l little of happiness now, because so many people are always living in property, in the other hand, somepeople have more money. In the Ouseburn, there are some old buildings wihch are uesed in some other perpose. It will be an alternative way to deal with the old buildings.

How green is my valley?

I was extremely surprised to experience the extent of the greenery underneath the Byker Bridge. You just don't get to appreciate it when flying past in your car. Often the perception of the area is one of a grey, bleak landscape but nothing could be further from the truth... on my first walk a beautiful autumn day heightened the vibrance of the valley.

One abiding memory...standing, looking underneath the bridges is an awesome sight! Just imagine how much work and bricks went into building such imposing structures.

Dirk the rabbit and the drug factory

I'm thinking about Dirk the rabbit's hairdo.  He lives on the Ouseburn Farm and looks nothing like any rabbit I've ever seen.  Come to that the goats grazing nearby don't look very much like goats.  And apparently there's talk of otters in the Ouseburn.  But maybe, after all they are just big rats.  So it seems there are some species identity issues in the Valley.

And the 'drug factory' - Two conceptual artists are overseeing a piece of art using mould on the inside wall of a derelict factory.  Large heaters are being used to develop the mould through the night.  Overhead the police helicopter passes by and its infra red equipment registers the mysterious heat source in the disused warehouse.  They assume it is a drug factory and armed police are sent to burst in on the mould artists.....

More magic, please

More than a decade since regeneration began down here and the Ouseburn is still semi-derelict, a mouth full of broken teeth and ugly gaps. Legal and financial issues get in the way of developments, or public opinion stops them. Where else could a bunch of barflies halt a million-pound development for ten years because it threatened to block the view from the beer garden?! I'd like to see strange and beautiful and imaginative temporary structures pop up in the rubble, like they do in Berlin. temporary summer restaurants and cabaret clubs, under canvas awnings and strung with lanterns - magical.

My hen do

My hen do began with lunch at The Cluny; the theme was Old New Borrowed Blue and I was given a photo and memory book from friends spanning 26 years.

Trip down Victoria Tunnel

After a search around the internet i found this volenteer led trip through the Victorian tunnels that were built to transport coal under the city.
It was amazing to visit a hidden piece of Newcastle that we had heard of but knew very little about. The guides were very informative and there is a lot more to the history of the tunnels than you would expect.
Well worth a visit.

MANAGER PAUL NICHOLSON

DJ_PAUL_2004THEMAN@.CO.UK

RADIO DJ AT NORTH UMBRIA DAYBREAK XMAS PARTY IN THE CLUNY

HELPING OUT AT NOHRTH UMBRIA DAYBREAK ON THE MAGAZINE  AT STEPNEY BANK

MANAGER PAUL NICHOLSON
  

Everything happens at the Cumberland Arms

Well it does for me! I had my wedding reception there is 2005. My husband and I had done our own ceremony under the Shoe Tree in Armstrong Park, and then everyone had piled back to a marquee outside the Cumberland. The garage had been opened up as a temporary bar - something that happens regularly now, but I think it was the first time they did it for our wedding, so it was just a barrel basically! We had a pot luck wedding breakfast, with our guests all bringing food to share (lots of cupcakes!) and by the end of the night I was handing out food to anyone and everyone in the pub. I still sometimes talk to people who are strangers to me, only to find out that they were at my wedding!

Warehouse Art

One of my first experiences of the Ouseburn was 'breaking in' to one of the derelict warehouses on Stepney Bank. Maybe we had permission, I can't really remember, in the late '90s a lot of people were using lockups in the Valley for parties and the legality always seemed a little hazy. We used our space to put on a photo-performance piece, where ten photographers ran around and stopped every ten seconds to take a shot of wherever they landed. The images were then put on the walls as a kind of broken narrative. I was timekeeper and rang the gong! The warehouse is gone now, it was demolished and for a while the old back wall with its graffiti formed the back of a temporary car park; then the Media Exchange build their office block on the site. And the group of artists who performed the piece are also long disbanded - some of us are working in the 'arts establishment' but I bet we all miss the days when we liked our art to trespass just a little bit...

Vickys Memories

I remember my first visit to the Ouseburn.
It was to visit the Cluny with friends. I thought the burgers were awesome!