5. 5 Lost Yorkshire Nightclubs
by Jonathan Rudd
1. Majestyks – Leeds
Once upon a merry
time in the centre of Leeds, nightlife revolved around Majestyks on Boar Lane.
The distinctive old, circular building was built in 1922 as the Majestic cinema
and then became a bingo hall in the 1960s. The cinema closed in 1969 and the
venue carried on calling the bingo until 1996. The following year it re-opened
as Majestyks Nightclub, attracting top name DJs and celebrity punters,
including infamously two well known Leeds United footballers. Like many
superclubs the dancefloor thinned out in the mid noughties and finally shut its
doors in 2006. In 2014 the empty building caught fire, causing severe damage to
the 92 year old structure. The building is now to be the home of Channel 4’s
Northern studios.
2. Lexington Avenue (LA’s) – Hull
Over in Hull,
Lexington Avenue, or LA’s as locals would call it started life as the Locarno
ballroom in 1961, before moving with the times and becoming a disco club in the
1970s under the name ‘Tiffanys’. Then in 1986 the club was re-named Lexington
Avenue and became a nightclub, undergoing million pound refurbishments and
obtaining a late license to remain open until 2am. This made LA’s the place
to go once the pubs in Hull city centre closed at 11pm. While it never quite
attracted the big names as its more trendy compatriots on this list, the club
built up a legendary status in the city. Acts like Take That, Black Box and
Beverley Knight all appeared here over the years to name a few. There were
smaller rooms too, such as the Reflections 80s room and the Orleans r ‘n’ b
lounge, plus it’s very own American style diner. The club was also renowned for
its midweek theme nights, such as the Bus Stop 70s nights and Old Skool dayz
school disco themed parties. As the Millennium passed, seemingly LA’s was to go
on and on, but suddenly out the blue, in 2005 the receivers were called in and
Lexington Avenue was suddenly no more, just days after being packed for one of
its famed school disco nights. LA’s nightclub eventually met the bulldozer four
years later and nowadays the site is a Hilton Hotel, with merely an upstairs
bar named after the club in which it replaced.
3. Tall Trees – Yarm
The small,
unassuming North Yorkshire town of Yarm was for a time a mecca to revellers
across the North for the superclub, Tall Trees. The complex started life as a
hotel in the 1960s, before the nightclub was added in the 1980s. Joining the
superclub boom of the 1990s, Tall Trees attracted some of the top names in
clubland, including Paul Taylor who created the Retro night, which ran here for
14 years and became one of the most successful club events. Despite the decline
of superclubs in the noughties, Tall Trees carried on before finally shutting
its doors in 2010. The hotel also closed shortly after and stood derelict,
until it burned to the ground during a fire in 2014. The site where the hotel
and nightclub once stood is now a housing estate.
4. Ikon Diva – York
Opening in 1999,
Ikon Diva in York could be considered slightly late to the party. York’s only
superclub was out of town on Clifton Moor Retail Park. As part of a nationwide
franchise, Ikon Diva had many top DJ names on the decks, including Judge Jules
and Leeds’ own Rob Tissera. However a series of controversial incidents
blighted the superclub’s short stay as York’s largest party venue. In April
2004 the management were fined £16,000 for selling sub-standard spirits. On the
very next night, the club’s night bus, which ferried revellers from Clifton
Moor to the city centre crashed when a drunken passenger tried to take control
of the wheel after the driver refused to stop near his home. One person was
killed and the club was blamed for an ’irresponsible’ drinks promotion which
led to over intoxication of its customers. These two incidents marked the
beginning of the end for Ikon Diva and the club closed the following year.
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5. Gatecrasher – Sheffield
Clubbing at Gatecrasher in Sheffield was an experience like no other. Picture credit: dubtech wikipedia creative commons public domain
Opened in 1996 in
an old warehouse dating back to 1910, Gatecrasher became Yorkshire’s party
capital. While other nightclubs on this list drew in a more local crowd,
clubbers the length and breadth of the UK would descend on Sheffield to sample
the unique Gatecrasher clubbing experience. It even had its own fan club, known
as The ‘Crasher Kids,’ who were to be seen every week dressed in rave gear,
such as neon trousers, dog collars and day-glo paint. The club was famous for
its trance music nights, with resident DJ Judge Jules a regular on the decks.
At the Millennium it was reported 25,000 clubbers attended Gatecrasher for its
New Year’s Eve Party.
As the noughties
wore on and as club culture began to fade the famous Gatecrasher nights became
fewer and further between, being held monthly rather than weekly. The venue was
also regularly raided by police as the drugs took over and the Crasher kids
were marginalised by a younger, trendier clubber.
Then, on 16th June 2007 disaster struck when the Gatecrasher nightclub caught fire. As the blaze
ravaged through the near hundred year old building the damage was terminal.
Busloads of clubbers from all over the country arrived on Matilda Street to lay
flowers and mourn the loss of their party Mecca. In the years that followed,
proposals to re-launch Gatecrasher in Sheffield were blocked by the local council.
In 2016 the Gatecrasher student accommodation opened on the site of the old
nightclub, although its residents may never experience clubbing quite like on
the spot where they wake up every morning.
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