In the 1960s and 70s, The Top Hat in Spennymoor was the "place to be" according to those who used to frequent it on a weekend and on music nights. 

Boasting some of the biggest bands in music, The Top Hat was famed for bringing a whole host of British and international artists to Spennymoor and making the town a destination for many people from County Durham.

Opening in 1966, big musical acts played The Top Hat from the very start.

The Top Hat in Spennymoor (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

One of the earliest came in 1967 when The Tornadoes played six nights at the venue, before The Kinks played The Top Hat twice in 1968, while Sweet called the venue home for a string of shows in 1972, and Thin Lizzy played the club in 1973. 

This legendary run of artists continued through 1974, with Judas Priest playing, and Del Shannon playing The Top Hat in 1975. 

The venue, which is based on High Street in Spennymoor, continued through the 1990s, before closing down and enjoying a resurgence as The Cube - attracting some big-name dance and house disc jockeys including Judge Jules, before closing in 2012.

The Top Hat in Spennymoor under development (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

In 2013, The Top Hat opened up yet again with a pool club and a private poker club - but closed again; making way for Top Hat Studios, which houses a dance studio and other creative spaces.

But it's the club's time in the 1960s and 1970s which people remember the best. 

 John Rusby, from Bishop Auckland, previously wrote in to The Northern Echo, praising the high calibre of acts at the venue.

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He remembered: "Who would have thought that a small town like Spennymoor in County Durham would have attracted so many of the top pop artists in the 1960s?

"They had the variety club where as a young teenager I saw the likes of Helen Shapiro, still then a schoolgirl, singing her first hit “Please Don’t Treat Me Like a Child”, Billy Fury, Eden Kane, Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, Screaming Lord Sutch plus many, many more.

"Then came along came the Top Hat nightclub that always hosted top 60s artists such as Gerry and the Pacemakers, and The Karl Denver Trio, the list of top groups was endless."

Some of the acts to play The Top Hat:

• 1967 - The Tornadoes
• 1968 - The Kinks
• 1972 - Sweet
• 1973 - Thin Lizzy
• 1974 - Judas Priest
• 1975 - Del Shannon