Being a regular visitor to Ouseburn, I have walked past the entrance to the tunnel on Ouse Street countless times and every single time I say to my wife “I must book the tour”. In a rare show of forward planning, I took advantage of a free weekday and booked the tour in advance, I choose the shorter tour, which is 1 hour 15 minutes which cost £13, however there is a longer tour available which takes 2 hours.
The tunnel itself was built between 1839 and 1842 and is a subterranean wagonway that runs under Newcastle upon Tyne from the Town Moor down to the River Tyne. Its original use was to transport coal to the riverside and then as an air raid shelter during World War Two. In 2006 Newcastle City Council secured funding to restore the tunnel and open it to the public, it is now run by the Ouseburn Trust who provide events and guided tours of the 700m section of the tunnel which is accessible.
The meeting point for the tour is at the Ouseburn Trust at 51 Lime Street in Ouseburn, arriving the prerequisite 10 minutes before, we met up with our guide Trev and a small group including a couple from Utah. As we made our way along the short walk to the tunnel entrance, we picked up a couple from Cuba.
At the opening to the tunnel, we were handed hard hats and torches and warned that in parts the ceiling is quite low so if you are tall (I am 6 foot 2) you will need to crouch in places. There was room to safely leave bags and other belongings at the tunnel entrance as the guide locked the entrance behind us once we entered.
As we began our journey along the tunnel, Trev played the sound of an air raid siren to illustrate the reality of what it must have felt to be heading into the air raid shelter during the war. As we made our way along the first part of the tunnel, we could hear voices and footsteps behind us, thankfully it wasn’t anything supernatural but a small group of people who had arrived late. Bizarrely this family were also from Utah, which meant 50% of the group were from the Southwest United States.
Heading along the tunnel we traversed tight corners and stopped for informative and entertaining historical facts and stories from our well informed and colourful guide. We discovered how the tunnel was built and by whom, its usage as a wagonway in the industrial revolution and what it was like to be in the air raid shelter during World War Two.
You can feel the history (quite literally) oozing through the walls, it does have a very eerie atmosphere and some of the colourful stories really add to the feel. Trev did pose the question that he gets asked each tour, “Is the tunnel haunted?” and his answer was a resounding “Yes!”. At, a couple of points we all turned off our torches and stood in the pitch black while Trev shared some spine-tingling stories from the tunnels history which added to the atmosphere.
I did bang my head a couple of times so was thankful for the hard hat, however that seemed to be a tall man issue as nobody else seemed to have this problem. The tunnel did feel quite claustrophobic at points and make sure you avoid wearing your best shoes as some sections are quite wet and slippy.
All in all, it was a great way to spend an hour and a half (our tour overran), parking is plentiful nearby and when you finish the tour you have a choice of pubs and the excellent Northern Rye in proximity for something to eat.
Use the link below to book your tour and to find out more.