"Ouseburn" Top 5 Page for this destination Newcastle upon Tyne Off The Beaten Path Tip by toonsarah

In recent years the development that first started around the central part of the Quayside has spread eastwards, and the area around where the smaller Ouseburn flows into the Tyne, in particular, has benefitted from regeneration. But we had never got round to visiting that part of the city until our most recent visit.

You can get to the Ouseburn valley either by walking along the Quayside, or by taking a bus or walking from the town centre. We chose the former route and despite a strong wind had a pleasant 15 minute stroll from the Tyne Bridge to the mouth of the Ouseburn. With the tide low, the boats here were stranded on the muddy banks, but made a colourful scene. We climbed the steps to one of the two pubs located near here, the Free Trade, which is a characterful small pub with great views. It was a little early for lunch but we had a very good real ale from the local Wylam Brewery. The other pub, the Tyne Bar, is lower down right on the Ouseburn’s bank and also looked promising, with live music some nights – something for our next visit.

From the mouth of the Ouseburn you can follow the footpath called Riverside Walkway along the eastern bank (on your right as you leave the Tyne) and climb up to the heart of Ouseburn. Here you will find lots to do. There’s a nationally acclaimed museum devoted to children’s literature, Seven Stories, which seems to have loads going on for families – crafts, author visits and exhibitions of original work by illustrators, for instance. As a former children’s librarian, I really must visit one day! There is also a large independent art gallery, the Biscuit Factory, which is also on our “must visit” list. But short of time on this occasion we focused instead on a couple of the smaller galleries. The F-Stop Gallery on Stepney Bank was a bit disappointing – a very small exhibition space with a handful of photos that didn’t especially appeal to us (most of the building is devoted to photographic printing and framing). Better was the nearby Northern Print, where, despite the slight chaos of a children’s printing workshop in progress, we enjoyed browsing the many small prints on display.

By now it was lunch time, so we retraced our steps up Stepney Bank to the Ship Inn, tucked under Byker Bridge. This is another traditional old pub, and we enjoyed a good toasted tuna and cheese sandwich before getting the bus back into the city centre on New Bridge Street a few minutes’ walk away.

A lovely day out – but loads more here to come back to another time. As well as the Biscuit Factory and Seven Stories, there’s a city farm and additional smaller galleries to explore. Watch this space!

Website: http://www.ouseburnnewcastle.org/