#brumpridetrail

The finished piece, from A1-E9. Worth it.

The Loft Lounge is a small bar on Bromsgrove st in the gay village with a great selection of cocktails to finish the trail with.

The map is up and fully operational :)

Initially opened by Laurie Williams in 1996, as a private members bar called Laurie's International Club, it was later bought by Gareth Scratchard and reopened as Angels. It was the first gay bar in Birmingham to have plate glass windows open to the street. The bar opened to coincide with the first Birmingham Pride in 1997. It featured on a TV programme which was one of the first gay "fly on the wall" documentaries.

Jester, or The Court Jester, as it was originally known, was a large cellar situated underneath Scala House on Holloway Circus, built as part of the Inner Ring Road developments in 1964. The bar was notable for its large oval shaped bar at its centre. Originally a straight bar it became very popular with gay men from the mid 1970s through to the 90s. It slowly declined in popularity during the late 90s due to competition from newer Hurst Street bars, eventually closing as a gay bar in late 2006. The feature bar was ripped out in the early 00s. Its sign was an engraved jester on the black granite cladding of the entrance. For many gay men The Jester was their first experience of the commercial scene in Birmingham.

The Nightingales' third location was a two storey building on Thorp Street at the side of the Hippodrome Theatre, previously the Birmingham Anglers Club. The entrance was simply a door on the street with a small viewing hatch. You walked down a short corridor and entered a spacious indoor courtyard area with a bar called the Pemberton Arms, after Derek Pemberton, the man who had put up the money for its first incarnation at Camp Hill. To the right was a small dining area and in front of you a doorway led to the main dance area. Upstairs above the entrance was a members' lounge. The club also had several rooms which they allowed groups such as Friend, Switchboard and HIV charities such as AIDSline West Midlands to use. It closed in 1994 when it moved to its' current location at Essex House.

In the 1980s women started organising women only spaces including at various venues, including the Communist Party's HQ the Star Club.

Only 5 more to go - thank fuck for that”