Who knows what life will be like once we’re released from house arrest? What will the so-called new normal look like? What’s certain is we’re all Zooming, streaming and buying online like never before. This was already the direction of travel and it just got turbo-charged. How many bricks and mortar businesses will survive is anyone’s guess.
And then there are the most ancient of games – cruising, coupling and canoodling – and the arenas where these rituals are played out. From an LGBT perspective, swiping right had already forced many a gay boozer to call time for good. Why bother with the faff and expense of propping up a bar hoping for a chance liaison when you can order in with free delivery? But these places aren’t just about a Saturday night takeaway, they also provide a community hub and a safe haven from a sometimes hostile world.
An old friend sent me – via WhatsApp, ironically – these amazing images of some of London’s most iconic gay pubs, venues with long and infamous pedigrees. I don’t know who took the pictures so they can’t be credited but they brought back a flood of memories of my gloriously misspent past.
Ladies and gents and all those in between, I give you the seven sisters. As the old saying goes, use them or lose them.
The Kings Arms: famous for bears, their admirers and Jivin’ Julie’s sunday night karoake The Eagle: the youngest of the seven sisters The Admiral Duncan: made famous by a nail bomb which, in 1999, killed three and maimed many others Halfway to Heaven: where Liam first caught my roving eye 14 years ago The Duke of Wellie: always my favorite Soho boozer right next door to my least favourite, Rupert Street Comptons: Soho’s boozy, cruisy bar frequented by likely lads from all over the world The Royal Vauxhall Tavern cabaret bar and the eldest sister by far. Listed status may not protect it from demolition.
My mother watched drag shows there in the sixties