Small Victorian pub on a quirky triangular site gay from 1987 to 2010. May 1973 – 2006.įor many years the principal pub for gay men and lesbians.
Ship Inn: 7-8 Lower Park Row, Bristol, BS1 5BJ.
Peggy Hancock’s regulars from the Radnor Hotel followed her to the The Ship when she opened the disused rear snug as a cocktail bar about 1965. The only gay pub in Bristol we know of before the 1970s. Known to have been gay in 1938 and possibly much earlier.
Radnor Hotel: 30 St Nicholas Street, BS1.
When they decided to pack it in, they gave all their records to two younger women who took it over when a new venue was found at the Parkside Hotel on Bath Road. The discos were organised and run by the Women’s Disco Collective – Alison, Jenny and Julia. Then there was ‘The Rockpile’ at Temple Quay – before the building it was in was demolished to make way for the office blocks and flats there now. The Folk House was a regular venue for a spell. Some were held at St Werburgh’s Community Centre on Horley Rd. I remember another after a ‘Reclaim the Night’ march at a back room behind the Coach and Horses pub on Stapleton Rd. The first I remember was on Wednesday nights at Roxy’s in Fairfax Street (see above). Sometimes they were once a week or month – or they were occasional. Until the Scarlet Coat opened in the mid/late 1980s, there were various venues where women’s discos were held. Jane recalls lesbian discos in the 1980s: Located in the same building as the earlier Winn’s, Flamingos was the principal night club in Bristol’s Old Market quarter.
Flamingos: 23-25 West Street, Old Market, Bristol, BS2.
2001 – c.2009.Ī big club and popular from the start, attracting mixed age groups. Opened in Autumn 1999 in former bank premises, one of the first clubs in the newly gay Old Market area.
Winn’s: 23-25 West Street, Old Market, Bristol, BS2.
Gay men’s club in the former Scarlet Coat premises.
Just: 19a Union Street (basement entrance at 1 Fiennes Court off Fairfax Street), BS1.
Flamingo Joe’s / Club Leo: 28 St Nicholas Street, BS1. 1993 – c.1998?Ī big dance club situated in the gap between two former gay venues, the Radnor Hotel and the Elephant.
Opening in 1992 the Queen’s Shilling quickly attracted a new crowd of gay teens and 20s.
Queen’s Shilling: 9 Frogmore Street, BS1.
Small lesbian club near Broadmead shopping centre.
The Scarlet Coat: 19a Union Street (basement entrance at 1 Fiennes Court off Fairfax Street), BS1.
Chantelle’s: 135 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, BS8.
Small upstairs bar at the bottom of Christmas Steps.
49 Club (later the Top Deck): 20 Christmas Steps, central Bristol, BS1.
1973 – 1991.īristol’s major gay club for men until the 1990s. Sold and reopened as Smith’s in about 1978. Circa 1970 – October 1976.įirst openly gay club in Bristol following the legalization of male homosexuality in England & Wales in 1967.
Moulin Rouge: 72 Worrall Road, Clifton, BS8.
Do you have old photos we can beg or borrow? Gay clubs Who managed them? Did they have cabaret, live music, DJ, karaoke, pub quizzes? Who were the regulars – gay men, lesbians, TV/TS? Tell us amusing anecdotes and about the characters who propped up the bar. When did you go? (precise years if you can). You can help with additions and corrections. We’ve listed known venues by approximate date of opening (up to circa 2000 – more recent venues will be added later). LGBT people have met and socialised in dozens of pubs and clubs in Bristol over the years.