Earls Court: Difference between revisions

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Earls Court, or Earl's Court, is a district of London, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

LGBT History

In the 1970s and 1980s it was one of the main gay areas of London. More recently the number of businesses aimed mostly at gay men has dwindled to a couple of retail outlets, including Adonis Art Gallery, as Soho and Vauxhall established themselves as the focus of gay nightlife.

The first public nightclub aimed at a gay clientele, The Copacabana, opened in Earls Court Road in the late 1970s, but was re-themed as a general venue in the late 1990s. The bar upstairs, Harpies and Louies, was until the late 1980s the most popular gay bar in London. It is now the Wagamama restaurant.

In 1964, The Lord Ranelagh Pub (opposite the former Princess Beatrice Hospital) spearheaded the local demand for live entertainment. A young, non-gay, male band, The Downtowners, attracted considerable attention. They persuaded many of the local cross-dressers to come into the pub and perform. Thus, the Queen of the Month contest was born. Every Saturday night the pub was packed to capacity. The show ran from September 1964 until May 1965 when the News of the World ran an article entitled 'This show must not go on.' On that Sunday night the pub was so packed that every table and chair had to be removed. Crowds spilled out on to the pavement onto Old Brompton Road. The police closed the show. Many well known celebrities were among the clientele and the Lord Ranelagh is considered to have played a role in the history of gay liberation. The pub underwent several different incarnations as a gay nightclub, the last as "Infinity", but is now closed.

The Pembroke pub, formerly the Coleherne, dates from the 1880s and had a long history of attracting a bohemian clientele before becoming known as a gay pub. A life-long resident of Earls Court Square, Jennifer Ware, recollects as a child being taken there to Sunday lunch in the 1930s, when drag entertainers performed after lunch had finished. In the 1970s it became a notorious Leather bar, with blacked-out windows, attracting an international crowd including the likes of Freddie Mercury, Kenny Everett and Rudolf Nureyev. It also became infamous as the stalking ground for three separate serial killers from the 1970s to the 1990s: Dennis Nilsen, Michael Lupo and Colin Ireland. It sought to lighten its image with a makeover in the mid-1990s to attract a wider clientele; to no avail, as in December 2008 it underwent a major refurbishment and repositioned itself as a gastro pub with a new name.

1997 Listings for Earl's Court

Gay London, published in 1997, lists 20 establishments in Earls Court:

Pubs & Bars

Hotels

Gyms

Earl's Court Gym

Cafés & Restaurants

References

Based on a Wikipedia article.

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-'''Earls Court''', or '''Earl's Court''', is a district of [[London]], in the Royal Borough of [[Kensington and Chelsea]]. In the 1970s and 1980s it was one of the main gay areas of London. More recently the number of businesses aimed mostly at gay men has dwindled to a couple of retail outlets, including [[Adonis Art Gallery]], as [[Soho]] and [[Vauxhall]] established themselves as the focus of gay nightlife.
+'''Earls Court''', or '''Earl's Court''', is a district of [[London]], in the Royal Borough of [[Kensington and Chelsea]].
-<cite>[[Gay London]]</cite>, published in 1997, lists 20 establishments in Earls Court.
+==LGBT History==
+In the 1970s and 1980s it was one of the main gay areas of London. More recently the number of businesses aimed mostly at gay men has dwindled to a couple of retail outlets, including [[Adonis Art Gallery]], as [[Soho]] and [[Vauxhall]] established themselves as the focus of gay nightlife.
 The first public nightclub aimed at a gay clientele, The [[Copacabana]], opened in Earls Court Road in the late 1970s, but was re-themed as a general venue in the late 1990s. The bar upstairs, [[Harpies and Louies]], was until the late 1980s the most popular gay bar in London. It is now the Wagamama restaurant.
@@ Line 8: / Line 10: @@
 The Pembroke pub, formerly the [[Coleherne]], dates from the 1880s and had a long history of attracting a bohemian clientele before becoming known as a gay pub. A life-long resident of Earls Court Square, Jennifer Ware, recollects as a child being taken there to Sunday lunch in the 1930s, when drag entertainers performed after lunch had finished. In the 1970s it became a notorious Leather bar, with blacked-out windows, attracting an international crowd including the likes of [[Freddie Mercury]], [[Kenny Everett]] and [[Rudolf Nureyev]]. It also became infamous as the stalking ground for three separate serial killers from the 1970s to the 1990s: [[Dennis Nilsen]], [[Michael Lupo]] and [[Colin Ireland]]. It sought to lighten its image with a makeover in the mid-1990s to attract a wider clientele; to no avail, as in December 2008 it underwent a major refurbishment and repositioned itself as a gastro pub with a new name.
+==1997 Listings for Earl's Court==
+''[[Gay London]]'', published in 1997, lists 20 establishments in Earls Court:
+===Pubs & Bars===
+*[[The Coleherne]]
+*[[Earl's]]
+*[[Stiffy's]]
+*[[Brompton's]]
+*[[Club 180]]
+===Hotels===
+*[[Hotel George]]
+*[[Hotel Halifax]]
+*[[New York Hotel]]
+*[[Philbeach Hotel]]
+===Gyms===
+*[[Earl's Court Gym]]
+===Cafés & Restaurants===
+*[[Balans West]]
+*[[Café Au-reole]]
+*[[La Liberté]]
+*[[Roy's]]
+*[[Wilde about Oscar]]
 ==References==