A fifteen-minute walk east of the centre along the Quayside takes you under the Ouseburn's seven railway viaducts and into a tight valley of converted industrial buildings, breweries, music venues, and studios. The Cluny is a converted whisky bottling plant where most touring bands play; Seven Stories is the national centre for children's books; the Biscuit Factory bills itself as the UK's largest independent art gallery. Bring an empty stomach.
Drinking is the Ouseburn's other reason for being. The Free Trade Inn at the top of the valley has the best Quayside view in town, the Cumberland Arms is a folk-music pub with a beer garden over the burn, and the Ship Inn does cheap pints in a tiny rooming-house that has barely changed since the 1840s.