| Call the sheriff! OutUK's Adrian Gillan continues his East Midlands odyssey with a trip to Nottingham where gay boys in the ‘hood had better watch out. | |
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Boys beware: Nottingham’s scene is awash with male youths but also with a refreshing
and seemingly inexplicable number of gay girls on a scale one must see to believe -
a kind of inland Midland Lesbos, sucking ladies in from surrounding shires.
You’d best start off relaxed so check out Chill Out, a daytime gay-friendly café in the queer quarter just north east of centre, trolling coffee and soothing aromas - even oxygen if you fancy a breather! But as the night draws in shuffle over the road, down an ally, though a yard and up some steps to the Real Art Café, a comfy and ambient bare-brick hideout for a very merry Bohemian boy band of gay or most helpfully gay-friendly young men. |
Eating out in Nottingham. |
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And if you like a good gay caf, squeeze yet another in just a few streets away: the
Broadway Café Bar is a spacious mixed haunt beneath the cinema that hosts the annual
Lesbian & Gay Film Festival whenever that hits town, offering a wide choice of snacks
and candle-lit booze.
Jaunt north and call in at the Foresters Inn, a gay pub with pool, food and slightly older clientele and a real roaring fire to warm your cockles and raise more than just a smile. And then over the road to the New Foresters, a fine refurbished gay community hub now largely occupied by boisterous lasses with male guests in tow, the start of a Notts theme one fast discovers! Due south again and The Lord Roberts is a predominantly gay pub next to a theatre attracting a lovie loved-up crowd. But for the gay bars proper cross to Central., a large and extremely friendly bar-cum-club where DJs Harry & Emma lace the floor with thick molten musical cheese of a weekend - and who needs a smoke machine when you’ve got some balloons?! Historical Note: The much-loved Mill is alas no more and bar Ice has changed name and gone straight. Things really get going when you reach AD2, a vibrant gay bar sampling the latest tunes beneath video screens and crammed with dancing youthful gods and divine dykes who storm the gents replete with its tasteful multicoloured flashing urinals. NG1 next door is the town’s only gay nightclub and quite right too: with four bars, two dance floors - one R&B/Pop, the other House - and a chill-out area for the ultra-cool, the loos are again quite unique with unisex scrubbing ‘troughs’, and the crowd is typically young with loads of lez ladies to scare away the hags. Last Friday of the month becomes indie trash night Poptastic at NG1 whilst Revolution hits town every first Monday at the majestic old Art Deco Palais nearby. You can steam and cruise at Zeus sauna if you trek out Mansfield way. Or those with a car seeking authentic forest fun can try Thieves Wood: just take the A60 from Nottingham past Newstead Abbey and then follow the B6020 towards Kirkby. The second turning on the right veers to the left into the woods. The car park is up on the left and there are several clear fairy trails to lead you to your fancy. Otherwise, try the riverside down by Trent Bridge. Nottingham is approximately 1¾ hours from London St Pancras by Midland Mainline. Get special deals on gay-friendly hotels with our partners Bookings.
THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK
Chill Out (33 Heathcoat Street; T: 0845 125 9333) |
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