Eleven nightclubs in Derbyshire you may have pulled at in the 90s

Beer-soaked carpets, snogging on the dance floor and a pint of lager for 50p are some of the memories we hold dear from nights out in the 90s.
The Regal nightclub RipleyThe Regal nightclub Ripley
The Regal nightclub Ripley

We put together a list of places you may remember (Most of which no longer exist).

The Bradbury Club, Chatsworth Road, Chesterfield: This was a rather large, slightly soulless, nightclub and you probably enjoyed it if you had consumed enough bottles of Hooch to sink a ship. The music was cheesy and mainstream and the drinks were cheap.

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Le Montmarte (Monty’s), Stephenson Place, Chesterfield: As one former Monty’s goer explains: “I was a ‘youth’ in the mid 90’s so every Tuesday it was a MUST to be seen at Drop Out in Monty’s. Four pints at 50p a pint until 9pm - I learned to love watered down snakebite. DJ Dids played great songs though, the dance floor was full of swishing dreadlocks and if you held your breath the toilets weren’t that bad. Another reveller recalls carpets always being soaked with alcohol.

Rollerworld/Paradise nightclub, Derby: Back in the 90s there used to be an under 18s night at Eclipse in Derby (Mansfield Road) on a Friday night. Come 10pm everybody would be kicked out and shuffled into Rollerworld next door. If a boy spotted a girl he liked earlier in the night she might be asked ‘Will you get off with my mate behind the barrier?’ Pure class.

Kristies nightclub, Ilkeston: Where Aldi now stands there used to be a clubbing hot spot called Kristies. It was the only club in town and a hot favourite for students from the nearby South East Derbyshire College (which also no longer exists). It was bulldozed in 2001, demolishing many happy memories of drinking snakebite and black and eying up the local talent.

The Regal,Ripley: Cliff Richard performed there many years ago and people from Ripley, Heanor, Belper and further afield will have enjoyed a night out there over the years. The central dance floor was always an ideal place to shake your stuff to the latest Take That track and try and attract the attention of the person you fancied.

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Pink Coconut, Derby: This was the place to be in Derby in the 90s. Based on Colyear Street people would queue to get on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. It even attracted the odd celebrity. Mark Morrison (remember him? Return of the Mack) used to go there. One Pink Coconut goer recalls getting kicked out: “I was drunk and overly amorous with a young lady and got pulled out by a doorman by the scruff of my neck.” Oh, the memories.

Fannys, Owler Bar, North Derbyshire: This place would pull people in from far and wide such was its allure. One Fanny-goer told us that the main attraction was the ladies and the cheap drinks. He said: “The night we went was ladies night and the drinks were really cheap. I was working as a shelf-stacker at the time and we used to cram into a Ford Fiesta to get there. On occasions we had to walk all the way back to Sheffield, dodging sheep along the way.”

Harvey’s, Belper: When all of the other pubs in Belper closed this is where people would end up. Best known for its rather small dance floor, wooden decor and late-night lock-ins, you had to be pretty drunk to think going there was a good idea. Unfortunately it attracted a number of problems post-90s, including under-age drinking, and was eventually closed before being re-opened as Hacketts in the noughties.

The Green Room, Chesterfield: Your feet stuck to the floor, the regular DJ spots were filled with the likes of Rockin Roy Goodall. A former Green Room goer said: “There was a strong smell of ‘herbal’ cigarettes, but it was always an amazing night with fab friendly people. My mum said you would never meet the man of your dreams in the Green Room, she was right of course.”

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The Pav, Matlock Bath: The Pav closed as a nightclub in 2008 and holds fond memories for many people in Matlock and the surrounding areas who would spill into The Pav when the pubs closed. One former reveller recalls: “It was above the mining museum and was a bit like going back in time. I think it was only £3 to get in. It had a cafe inside which meant you didn’t have to wait until the end of the night to get food. It was a bit of a meat market. Most people that went moaned about it being rubbish but still went every week.”

The Gaslight, Buxton: Over the years this place has had many names but back in the late 90s/early 2000s it was known as the Gaslight. The floors were sticky, you could buy chips upstairs and you could even see yourself throwing some shapes on the dancefloor thanks to the wall of mirrors that surrounded it! The town’s original nightclub is still open, and is now known as Trunk.