The Cluny

About The Cluny

The Cluny is a pub, cafe and live music venue at 36 Lime Street in the Ouseburn Valley, a few minutes downhill from the city centre. The building was completed in 1848 as a flax spinning mill for Messrs Plummer and Cooke, designed by John Dobson, the architect behind much of Georgian and early Victorian Newcastle. It reopened in 1860 as a steam-powered flour mill, and later became a Scotch whisky bottling plant called the Cluny, which is where the present name comes from. The bar opened in 1999 and the venue shares the wider building with artists' studios, offices and recording studios, which is typical of how the Ouseburn's industrial stock has been reused.

The main room holds around 300 and has a long-standing reputation as one of the best mid-sized stages in the North East, taking touring indie, folk, jazz and experimental acts as well as local bills. A second, smaller space known as The Cluny 2 sits alongside it for early-career and club-night programming. Away from gig times it functions as a proper bar and kitchen, with cask and craft beer and food served through the day, and its riverside-valley setting under the Byker viaducts is part of the draw.

Featured in These Guides

Blog posts and guides that feature The Cluny.

New Year's Eve in Newcastle 2026: Howaymanay, Parties and New Year's Day

A guide to New Year's Eve 2026 in Newcastle: Howaymanay and the free 6pm fireworks on the Quayside, the HogmanHOWAY 5K, bar and club parties, family options and New Year's Day.

BBC Radio 6 Music Festival Coming to Newcastle in March 2027

The BBC Radio 6 Music Festival will be held in Newcastle from Monday 15 to Friday 19 March 2027, with five days of gigs and DJ sets at independent and grassroots venues.

Best Streets and Areas to Live in Newcastle City Centre

Grainger Town flats above classical shopfronts, Quayside apartments, the creative Ouseburn, Georgian Leazes and the quiet square at Summerhill: a street-level guide to living in central Newcastle.

Live Music and Gig Venues in Newcastle: Where to See a Show

A year-round guide to live music in Newcastle, from the arena and the grand seated concert hall down to the independent grassroots rooms of the Ouseburn, so you can pick the right venue for the night you want.

A Weekend in Newcastle City Centre: A 48-Hour Itinerary

How to spend a relaxed weekend in the middle of Newcastle, from Friday-night drinks on Grey Street to the Quayside bridges, city museums and a slow Sunday by the river.

Moving to Newcastle City Centre: A Guide to Living in the City

What it is really like to live in Newcastle city centre and the quarters around it, from Grainger Town and the Quayside to the Ouseburn and Shieldfield. A practical look at transport, housing, amenities and the trade-offs of centre living.

Best Walks in and around Newcastle City Centre

From the Quayside and the Ouseburn to the Town Moor and the medieval walls, the best walks are all within reach of the middle of Newcastle without a car.

Dog-Friendly Newcastle City Centre: Pubs, Cafes and Walks

A city-centre day out with the dog, from a Grainger Town micro-pub that keeps dog beer behind the bar to the riverside walk along the Quayside and the independent bars of the Ouseburn. Here is where dogs are genuinely welcome.

Things to Do in Newcastle City Centre

A complete guide to the city centre: how it fits together, what to do with two hours or a full day, and where to go for museums, the Quayside, food, shopping, children, sport and the seasonal calendar.

Best Pubs and Bars in Newcastle City Centre

From a narrow Victorian drinking house on The Side to a tiled bar inside Central Station and the real ale cluster down in the Ouseburn, here are the Newcastle pubs worth planning a night around.

Parks and Green Spaces in Newcastle City Centre

Newcastle keeps a thousand acres of grazed common land, the oldest public park on Tyneside and a riverside path all within walking distance of Grey's Monument. Here is how the city centre's green space fits together.

Bonfire Night in Newcastle 2026

There is no firework display in Newcastle city centre, and there has not been one for years. Here is where people actually go in 2026, which nights they fall on, and how to get to each one by Metro.

Upcoming Events

Events that feature or are connected to The Cluny.

Past Events

Recent events connected to The Cluny.