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Introducing, The Grove – The Ouseburn’s all new multi-purpose event space

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The Grove, an all-new music venue, bar and event space is opening its doors in the cultural hub of Ouseburn next month, bringing something altogether new to Newcastle’s live music and entertainment scene.

The Grove will open to the public on Friday 10 March with an eclectic opening month of live gigs, DJ takeovers, quizzes and games nights to show the people of Newcastle what the space is all about.

With a main music venue with a capacity of 400, a fully loaded bar, a terrace with beautiful views of the city, a summer courtyard, a corporate space and dining facilities, The Grove will place itself in a firm middle ground between snug venues like The Cluny and larger independent event spaces such as Boiler Shop.

While other cities like Leeds and Manchester offer numerous venues of this size, Newcastle is currently lacking in this area – it was the ambition of The Grove’s founders to fill the gap.

The faces behind the project are Charlie Dancer and Cole Gilroy who have both dreamt of opening their own venue and putting their stamp on the city they call home.

“We’re both incredibly passionate about the city, and saw an opportunity to add something to a growing cultural sector of the city,” explains Charlie.

“We’ve both been heavily involved in the North-East’s musical fabric for a number of years as musicians, as gig-goers and as professionals, from putting on gigs in tiny rooms to organising festivals. Personally, I started out putting gigs on when I was 18, not knowing what I was doing but ultimately falling in love with events and seeing people having a good time.

Inspiration for the space was drawn from established Newcastle haunts such as By The River and Boiler Shop, but thanks to its unique size and stunning architecture, The Grove is set to occupy its own space within Newcastle’s thriving cultural scene.

“In the short term, we want to have a positive impact on Newcastle’s cultural scene and the ever-growing culture of the East End,” explains Cole. “We want to host people’s memorable moments, from first dates to first dances, to winning a quiz or winging it on a craft night.

I’ve always admired Charlie’s work within the North East with Generator and beyond, it was a no brainer when we both shared a similar vision to bring the idea behind The Grove to fruition.

Although its roots are firmly planted in music, The Grove will offer much more as it aims to reflect the needs and wants of the local community. 

In addition to its expertly curated programme of live gigs, artist showcases and all-dayers, the venue has projects in the pipeline for a host of community events, workshops and exhibitions.

Setting up shop each weekend will be a different food vendor from the North East’s talented community of food businesses.

The space will also host private and corporate events, from wedding receptions to conferences.

Cole continues: “The Grove has the capabilities to be a number of different things for different people; yes, we’re a music venue, but we’re also an event space that can be used for wedding receptions, conferences, workshops, crafty-makers nights and games events.

“We want to be a space for anyone looking to push their own thing – whether that’s running a weekly mental health coffee morning, or a monthly candle making event, or one-off immersive art exhibitions.”

The Grove is situated within the walls of a historic stable building that housed horses during the 1950s. The exact age of the building remains uncertain but pieces of architectural evidence pointing to the Victorian era suggest the building’s history goes back much further than the 20th Century.

“When we first walked into the building we could both immediately see its potential to be an amazing music venue, bar and all-round cool spot,” said The Grove’s co-founder Charlie Dancer. “The original architecture of the building is rather beautiful with old steel, timber and engraved brick everywhere.

“The very nature of the building feels very special – it feels intrinsically northern and screams of old industry and the graft of those before us.”

The Grove occupies a large space consisting of three buildings which join to form a horse-shoe shape around a beautiful enclosed courtyard.

The venue team have since built a roof terrace on the first floor and undertaken major structural work to restore the building to its former glory. According to Dancer, construction of the space has been “absolute graft.”

“We dug out drains, fitted new waterways to water mains, put in three new staircases, used around 20,000 metres of timber, 500 sheets of plasterboard and filled around 65 skips. “It’s been an absolute graft.

“We’ve also spent a lot of time at our neighbours The Free Trade after work, so thanks to them keeping us sane over this period!”

Cole Gilroy adds: “We feel the city lacks what we have to offer, not just from the layout of the building but down to the kind of place we want it to be. We’re so proud of what we’re building here and we can’t wait for people to see what’s behind the doors!”

The Grove is located on the border of the Ouseburn Valley and Byker – 1 St Michael’s Road, just off Albion Row and opposite Two By Two Brewery Tap Room, about 100m up the road from The Free Trade Inn.

The venue has on-site parking and cycling racks and is easily accessible via public transport, with bus stops on Dalton Street and Walker Road within 2 minutes walk away and Byker Metro just 9 minutes away.

For more information please visit: thegrovenewcastle.co.uk/

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Newcastle’s Liberal Democrat’s call for clarity on Northumberland Street transformation

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Newcastle’s Liberal Democrats have demanded “urgent” clarity on the future of the city’s main shopping street.

With work on a promised transformation of Northumberland Street yet to begin, the city’s opposition party has called on council bosses to take action on the “increasingly shabby” area. Designs for a major refurbishment of the busy pedestrian route, which Newcastle City Council said would get under way this year, have included installing a series of 50ft lighting pillars, as well as new trees, plants, and seating.

Coun Greg Stone, the Lib Dems’ spokesperson on the city centre, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that there were concerns that the scheme may be pushed back to 2024 in order to avoid a negative impact on shops as the festive period nears. In response, the Labour-run local authority confirmed that it does still intend to start the improvements on Northumberland Street by the end of this year and was in the process of appointing a contractor.

Coun Stone complained that the high street’s paving is “looking increasingly tired”, adding: “The council has an important duty to ensure that the city centre’s public realm and the fabric of our major streets are well cared for and attractive for Newcastle’s citizens, visitors, and businesses. We have been told that renovation of Northumberland Street is on the way for several years now but works on Ridley Place and Saville Row have taken an age and there is no sign of work being imminent on Northumberland Street.

“The decision to avoid construction work during last year’s pre-Christmas trading season was understandable, but the window of opportunity for work to be done this year seems to be closing. There is an urgent need for clarity from the council leadership on their vision and delivery plans for city centre improvements.”

He added: “The Lib Dem Opposition is disappointed that the council’s ambitions for Northumberland Street seem to be more tarmac patches than high quality paving and public realm. We continue to have concerns about the Labour administration’s capacity to manage major projects for the city centre and we may be facing further long waits for delivery.”

A dramatic transformation of the city centre has been the topic of debate for years. The city council has long wanted to pedestrianise the iconic Grey Street and initial works to gradually achieve that are ongoing, but controversial proposals to remove all traffic from Blackett Street were shelved last year.

A spokesperson for Newcastle City Council said: “We are progressing our plans to redevelop Northumberland Street to strengthen its position as the region’s most vibrant high street and encourage higher footfall.

“We are in the process of selecting a contractor to deliver the works and exact details and timescales will be confirmed when this process is complete. The improvements will include full repaving of the street and the introduction of new seating, planting, trees and lighting making it a more welcoming place that can be enjoyed both day and night.

“Northumberland Street is the city’s premier shopping destination, and our plans will reinforce this, setting apart from other streets and creating an attractive destination where people want to spend time.

“The council remains committed to delivering its long-term ambition to transform the city centre into a cleaner, greener, more welcoming place that attracts visitors and investment, and where our residents can feel a sense of belonging.

“The work on Ridley Place is now complete, new street furniture will be installed on Saville Row in the coming weeks and Grey Street should be complete by summer 2024 as planned. The initial works on Northumberland Street will start later this year.”

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More than 1,500 sewage overflows in Newcastle last year

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Raw sewage was released into open water in Newcastle more than 1,500 times in 2022, figures show.

Storm overflows normally happen when the sewage system is at risk of being overwhelmed – such as after a heavy rain, or during higher levels of groundwater.

In these cases, water companies may need to release excess water and sewage into rivers and the sea, to prevent water backing up into the streets and people’s homes.

This has an impact on the quality of our natural water sources, with some charities alleging storm overflows are being misused and under-reported.

Figures from the Environment Agency show storm overflows were used 1,637 times within Newcastle’s local authority boundaries in 2022, discharging for a total of around 4,724 hours.

All of these spills were from Northumbrian Water’s network.

Northumbrian Water saw 29,697 overspills across its network in 2022 – although 7% of the company’s facilities did not report overspill data last year.

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List of North East Schools affected this week by concrete crisis last minute closures!

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The government has finally published a list of schools identified with collapse-prone concrete after days of mounting pressure.

The document, released by the Department for Education, showed the start of term had to be delayed at 19 schools – responsible for 11,150 pupils – as a result of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

The list came just before the first Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) since the summer recess, where Rishi Sunak told the Commons the government had “acted decisively to ensure the safety of children and minimise disruption to education”.

The Liberal Democrats’ education spokesperson, Munira Wilson, also called for Mr Sunak to “come clean over his own role in this crisis”, and publish evidence given to him when he was chancellor on the risks to children’s safety from RAAC.

The list of North East schools affected are:

St James Catholic School, Hebburn, South Tyneside
St John Bosco Catholic Primary School, Sunderland
St Anne’s Catholic Primary School, Harlow Green, Gateshead
St Leonard’s School, Durham
St Benet’s Catholic Primary School, Ouston
St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School, Darlington
Ferryhill School, County Durham

Each school listed will be closed throughout this first week of September!

 

 

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