The name refers particularly to the urbanised lower valley, spanned by three impressive bridges, which is nowadays a cultural and social oasis close to the centre of Newcastle.

Coal was brought from the Town Moor along the Victoria Tunnel, where the tidal nature of the Ouseburn allowed wherries – the local barges – to be loaded at low tide and pulled out to the collier brigs and snows waiting in the Tyne.

The lower Ouseburn Valley had fallen into disuse and dereliction by the mid-twentieth century,[2] but its industrial heritage had left many large buildings which, since the 1970s, have increasingly been utilised as creative workspaces by artists, musicians and performers.

[3] The Ouseburn Trust remains a landlord and developer in the Valley, and seeks to involve people in the heritage and regeneration of the area through its programme of free walks, talks and volunteering activities.

[4] Hadrian's Wall crossed the Ouseburn just to the south of the Byker road bridge, and is thought to have run through the site of the City Farm.