Wet n Wild in the 90s - Photos of famous water park including TV star guest

For most of us, regular trips to the local swimming baths had been a rite of passage growing up - but this was something new and exciting. When Wet 'n' Wild opened at North Shields' Royal Quays in the early 1990s, it was a far cry from the draughty, functional municipal pools many of us were used to.

The sprawling indoor fun complex was based on the water parks which had sprung up across Europe and in Australia and the United States. At a cost of £7.5m, it was part of the Tyne and Wear Development Corporation's ambitious Royal Quays project, which aimed to regenerate 200 acres of land on the north bank of the Tyne with a mix of housing, retail and leisure facilities.

Even from the outside, Wet 'n' Wild looked different - according to the Chronicle "like a nuclear power station - a strange sort of building enveloped by even stranger brightly coloured tubes twisting all around the structure".

Once inside amid the 'tropical warmth' - maintained at 29 degrees centigrade - there were more tubes, lush green plants, sunbeds, jacuzzis, and water wherever you looked. Aquatic activities, designed for all the family, included everything from tyre rides, to outdoor lagoons and speed slides, to children's play areas.

The statistics were impressive. The complex employed 110 people and could accommodate 1,100 visitors who would splash around in 150,000 gallons of water. The flume tower was 70ft tall, and all seven flume rides were designed by Waterslides Australia.

When Wet 'n' Wild opened for its first visitors on Monday July 19, 1993, its attractions included the Tornado Twister, Fast and Furious Flumes, Calamity Canyon, Motion Ocean, Discovery Play Island, and Sleepy Creek. If you fancied a bite to eat, you could have 'fast food on a tropical terrace' at Crusoe's Galley - and you could even enjoy cocktails and drinks at Man Friday's Bar.

At the time, the £5.95 standard admission charge was perhaps seen as a bit pricey, but at Wet 'n' Wild - a place where families would spend the day and use all the facilities - the average length of stay was expected to be around five hours. Many thousands of us enjoyed splashing days out over the years at the North Shields water park.

But in October 2013, it was announced the attraction was closing, only to reopen the following year with a £1.1m refurbishment. The park however struggled to match the popularity and visitor numbers of its heyday and it closed its doors again in 2019.

ChronicleLive reported last August how the future of the facility was shrouded in doubt, despite being bought for £3.2m by the waterpark's tenants. This week, it has been revealed that the waterpark has been sold to a North East developer, though the identity of the new owner and its plans for the site has yet to be revealed.

Enjoy our 10 photographs recalling Wet 'n' Wild at the very start of its journey in 1993.