The Cluny, Newcastle Upon Tyne

Excellent music pub in lovely old industrial building and area. Also serves good real ale.

another trendy music venue-cum-cafe bar-cum-pub, I did like this one with its wide range of clientele - from babies to pensioners, rockers to goths, diners and rugged drinkers at the bar. Seven ales were on, four from Two by Two ( i think? my memory is hazy) and i enjoyed a chocolate orange porter. definitely worth a visit as it should appeal to any kind of drinker.

The old building this is set in was once a flax spinning mill. I got here on a Tuesday afternoon bang in the middle of the school holidays but had no problem with rampaging kids. I think there may have been a family group when I arrived but they were quiet and left soon after my arrival. Two of the four hand pumps were unused so there was just an Almasty beer that I couldn't read and Rooster's Baby Faced Assassin. I went for the Roosters one (£3.90) which was so good I stayed for another. Despite not being an original pub I quite liked this place. It's GBG 2018 listed under Byker.

Not quite as good as the Ship over the way, but certainly worth a visit as the beers were OK.

The Ouseburn Valley has become a bit of a cultural hub and this is evident nowhere more so than at this interesting former industrial unit which now serves as a pub, live music venue, art gallery and recording studio among other things. The main entrance takes you into the lower bar area which is styled in a cool, contemporary fashion without any of the annoying stylistic features that plague modern bars. A large front space has, for the most part, been left open plan, allowing for large volumes of vertical drinkers, with various huge pillars breaking up the space effectively. There are plenty of exposed pipes and wires around the ceiling, giving the place a slight industrial feel which fits with the building's history. The walls have been decorated with lots of retro pictures and tonnes of gig posters and there was a DJ booth set up in one corner. To the left of the bar, the room extends further back, past a huge mirrored pillar, where you'll find a row of tables down the side wall underneath exposed stone walls, framed artworks and a '24' pinball table. Further back is a ledge behind the bar with model trains on it and a cash machine next to steps which lead up to a mezzanine seating area. This space is set at an odd angle to the rest of the pub and has loads of tub chairs in a rather bland area, although there was one notable table worth picking out, which has it's own secluded spot overlooking the main bar. The music playing over the PA was excellent, with the likes of The Cocteau Twins and Talking Heads getting an airing. Food is available, mainly in the form of pizzas, hot dogs and burgers, although I didn't see anyone eating. I'm not entirely sure where the live music venue is in relation to the bar, but I could hear some muffled sounds on approach and having checked their listings to see who was playing, I discovered that the evening's entertainment was a 'Heavy Metal tribute to the Bee Gees'! Sadly I didn't have enough time to enjoy this cultural exchange, so I instead made do with a pint of Hadrian Border Reviver (£3.40), which was available alongside Roosters Fort Smith and Wild Mule, Hadrian Border Fly Half Bitter, Allendale Yakima Pale and Northern Line Stout - a collaboration between Camerons and Portobello breweries. Keg options included lots from Magic Rock. The Reviver was pretty good and it was fun to sit in a corner and indulge in a bit of people watching. This is a great use of an interesting old building which seems to have had a big impact on the cultural landscape of this part of town. As a pub, it probably lacks a bit of the intimacy and comfort that other boozers in the area offer, making it an interesting counterpoint when on a pub crawl. If I lived locally, I'd probably spend a lot of time in here and I would certainly recommend a diversion from the town centre to check out what they've got going on.