Bear's Paw

The Bear's Paw was a gay club in Liverpool in the 1970s with a downstairs bar and and upstairs dance floor. It was located in Doran's Lane, of North John Street, and owned by Gorden Shearer.


 * There was a vibrant gay scene in Liverpool in the 60’s but it was very underground, customers had to knock on the door of The Bears Paw three times. These clubs were important in the 70’s though, as they were among the few places that would tolerate customers dressed in flamboyant fashions such as Pete Burns and Jayne Casey.


 * The Bear's Paw attracted the 'better type of queen' [...] the rougher sort were not encouraged and went to Sadies's in Wood Street instead. [...] There was an unwritten law at the Bear's Paw that I was as yet ignorant of: it stated that if somebody offered to buy you a drink and you accepted, it went without saying that you had just agreed to sleep with them.

It later became the Harrington Bar.