The Ouseburn Valley

The Ouseburn Valley is just a stone's throw away from Newcastle's bustling quayside. Steeped in a rich industrial past the Ouseburn has a unique character enriched by a diverse collection of old and new.

For over 200 years the Valley hosted iron foundries, glass bottle works, potteries, paintworks, flax and flour mills and warehouses. The Ouseburn with its rising and ebbing tides provided a waterway where manufacturing and trade could flourish placing the Valley at the hub of Newcastle's industrial growth. At its height in the 1890s, the Valley was home to thousands of people living in crowded tenements - quite a contrast to the beautiful landscape we have today.

As heavy industry declined in the 20th century, small businesses started to invest in the Valley, artists converted the warehouses into studios and people from the surrounding communities set up a city farm, a riding stables and a regeneration trust. And they began to shout about the Valley's unique heritage and its hidden treasures. This community led regeneration has turned the Valley into one of the most creative places on Tyneside. Today visitors to the Valley are still struck by its imposing bridges dating from the 1730s to the 1980s.

And at 30 Lime Street Seven Stories has found its home. Housed in an imposing Victorian seven storied warehouse, rising from the burn's Quay wall the building has its own story to tell - of flour, cattle food, revolutionaries, miners and printers, and finally as a place visitors can explore and enjoy children's books.

Other venues in the Ouseburn Valley:

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