NEWS that Kuda nightclub in Clifford Street – formerly The Gallery – is to close for a two-month refurbishment has sent our archive photo search into overdrive.
The Clifford Street club will undergo a six-figure transformation and reopen under the new name, Circuit, in May.
We all love a good old reminiscence about York’s clubbing scene – and this venue has a colourful history stretching way back. It even has a royal connection!
Many readers will have fond memories of bopping the night away to the latest tunes at the many incarnations of this nightclub over the years.
Here are seven fun facts about York’s best-loved night spot…
1. The nightclub is situated in a handsome Victorian building dating from the late 1800s. Grade II listed, was formerly the York Institute of Art, Science and Literature. Its foundation stone was laid by the then Prince of Wales in July 1883 and first opened in 1885. It’s main front is on Clifford Street, but it extends to Cumberland Street too, where today we find the entrance to York Dungeon.
Before Kuda and the York Dungeon – this magnificent building on Clifford Street had a glorious past as the York Institute of Art, Science and Literature
2. The basement contained a gymnasium and two small class rooms. The main floor contained a hall with a capacity of 500 people, and a lecture theatre, class room, two reading rooms, a council room and offices. The first floor contained three more class rooms.
3. It became a public library in 1892 when it was bought for £4,100. The library first opened on August 1 that year. It began with a stock of 10,417 volumes, and a year later boasted 5,983 borrowers.
4. Later, it became York Technical College – many readers may recall taking secretarial courses there.
5. By the 1980s part of the building became a nightclub – a use it still retains today. Readers will recall its many names, from GG Barnums in the 1980s (anyone recall the popular Master of Rock nights on Mondays and Fridays?); Silks in the 1990s, and The Gallery until 2012 when it became Kuda.
6. In 2008, Prince William was photographed during a night out at The Gallery while enjoying a stay in York in 2008.
Read more York nostalgia
DO you love delving into York’s past and seeing photos from yesteryear, and reading stories about them?
We do too! The Press features nostalgia pages most days in the paper and online – including an eight-page supplement every Wednesday in the paper.
If you have a nostalgia story for us, you can also contact us on email – write to our Community Content Editor, Maxine Gordon at: maxine.gordon@thepress.co.uk.
We also have more than 3,000 members in our online nostalgia group on Facebook, Why We Love York – Memories. It is free to join and you will find us at www.facebook.com/groups/yorknostalgia/ – click here to get started!
It would be great to see your old photos of York – and they don’t have to be from centuries ago.
We all love seeing old photos from our own past, and some of our more popular stories date from the 70s, 80s and 90s – and even into the noughties.
