Victoria Tunnel

Very cool attraction in Newcastle, and well worth checking out.
The Victoria Tunnel is run by a local non-​profit trust, and I believe most, if not all, of the tour guides are volunteers. I was happy to pay the £6 tour fee to help this local group continue with their historical work.
The tunnel has two main storylines, one from the original building during Victorian times. It was built for the massive coalmines of Newcastle, and allowed easy transport of the coal to the river without bothering the city’s wealthier residents. The second storyline is from WWII, when the tunnel was used as an air raid shelter. There are still benches and beds from that period in the tunnel, and the story is a fascinating one to hear from the guides.
Some comments: first of all, as a tall person, I had to duck for pretty much the entire tour. Hard hats are provided, so your head shouldn’t feel any pain at any point, but it’s annoying nonetheless, and can be hard on the back after some time. Secondly, the tour takes 2 hours, which I think is slightly too long. Perhaps this is related to comment 1, and I only found it too long because of needing to duck the whole time.
However, overall, the tour is definitely worth taking when in Newcastle. There’s a lot of history in the Ouseburn section of the city, and the enthusiastic guides are always delighted to answer questions and explain the history. They really love their city!

Fab piece of history directly underneath our Geordie feet! The Ouseburn trust offer tours of the Victoria tunnel while telling you of its history and significance both as a wagon-​way in transporting coal and as an air raid shelter in WWII. What amazes me is the length of the tunnel and how understandably you can be quite oblivious to what’s under your feet whilst crossing the Town Moor for example.
Interesting stories about the construction and tragedies within the tunnel but also entertaining as the tour guides are keen to inject a bit of humour into the tour. It’s surprisingly wider than I first thought and even people who are considerably taller than my 5“4 height didn’t struggle to stand upright in the centre of the tunnel. I only did a taster tour for which you don’t get to enter very far but it was sufficient to get the gist of the place and its historical value.
I would recommend it to anyone as a one off glimpse of Newcastle history! That said, now I have seen it I’m not sure I would return unless there was a specific event on.