Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Chronicle Live
Chronicle Live
Entertainment
Simon Duke

The tale of Baja Beach Club - from cheesy music heaven to unrecognisable new office space

Cast your minds back 20 years and there was one nightspot in Newcastle which everyone knew - Baja Beach Club.

A journey over the swing bridge from Newcastle, Baja was a haven for all things cheesy music at a time when Hear'say were the biggest group in the country, Will Young was about to win Pop Idol and smoking was still very much allowed in indoor premises.

A stone's throw away from another iconic Tyneside rite of passage - The Boat - Baja was one of those haunts that had to be seen to be believed.

While, unlike The Boat it didn't have a drink all you want for a tenner offer or a perilous revolving dancefloor, (which these days would be a huge health and safety no no!) what Quayside neighbour Baja did have was dancers, which at one time included a pre-Liberty X Michelle Heaton, who dressed up as everything from the Village People to the nuns from Sister Act; its famous balloon drops and the pièce de résistance - it's own upstairs beach cafe.

READ MORE: A night out in Newcastle in 2009 - recognise anyone in our photos?

After you'd risked getting a cigarette burn from another over enthusiastic clubber while dancing to the likes of Billy Ocean's Love Really Hurts Without You, Tiffany guilty pleasure I Think We're Alone now, Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up or Divinyls - I Touch Myself, you could amble upstairs (probably after too many VKs or Reefs!) and get some chips and a burger to end your night.

Dancer's pictures of Baja Beach Club (Roxie Cooper)

In its hey day, shark-headed musical smorgasbord Baja was jam packed many nights of the week, after also becoming a big favourite with students as well as locals, with Metro Radio broadcasting live from the club every Friday.

It was a sad day when, after a drop in footfall as people took their custom elsewhere, Baja closed its doors in the summer of 2008.

Inside Aspire Technology Solutions new offices - the old Baja Beach Club (JB Photography)

For years it stood empty, cutting a sad sight for any former regulars who'd walk or drive past and instantly be transported back to nights out that would always end with a blast of the Cheers theme tune.

After more than a decade in the wilderness, the empty Baja premises were acquired by Newcastle property company Adderstone Group at the start of 2019.

Now called Pipewell Quay and without a shark head in sight, the building now comprises of three floors, incorporating state of the art office space, break-out zones and meeting rooms.

It has rooms named after world famous pioneers and local icons like Tim Berners-Lee, Alan Turing and Catherine Cookson.

For the latest What's On news, announcements and reviews direct to your inbox, go here to sign up to our free newsletter

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.