Byker Grove fans are beside themselves with excitement at the news that the long-running BBC show is making a shock return to TV, but many viewers still aren't aware of the fact that the Grove was never actually in Byker.
It was back in 1989 that the Newcastle based children's programme made its debut, with its original cast members including Jill Halfpenny and a very young Declan Donnelly. As it reached its hey day in the mid-90s, Byker Grove made household names out of the likes of Ant and Dec and Donna Air, with the likes of Denise Welch, Charlie Hunnam and Charlie Hardwick all in the cast at some pointr.
The show came to an end in late 2016, 17 years after its launch and there was huge news on Tuesday, when Ant and Dec announced that they were taking a key role in Byker Grove's return, with the TV presenters both being executive producers and their company Mire Studios, teaming up with Sunderland based Fulwell73, to relaunch it as BYKER.
READ MORE: Where are the Byker Grove cast now? From pop careers to 50 Shades
While many Byker Grove fans assumed, given the show's title, that the Grove was in Byker, and never gave it a second thought, it quickly became known amongst locals, that the show's main set wasn't in Byker at all, but Benwell.
Prior to becoming the most famous youth club in the country, the building, built in 1200s and a former home of the famous Shafto family, was The Mitre pub, after being a fire station during the Second World WAR and, and becoming a training centre for the National Coal Board in 1947.
What happened to Byker Grove?
Once production had wrapped on the final series, the building was put up for sale and, as reported by The Chronicle in 2010, was purchased by a community organisation, before planning permission was granted for it to become the Bahr Academy school in 2012.
Prior to the school's opening in 2016, the site was targeted by vandals, with damage also being done to the property three years later in 2019.
Last year the Academy launched a fundraising appeal to raise money for the school to move to a new site, in order to increase its pupil intake.
Ant and Dec returned to the building as part of a documentary celebrating 40 years of The Prince's Trust in 1016.
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