pRIDE TRAIL POI'S
b1 - b9
B1: BT tower foundations
Now filled in, this used to be a popular cottaging spot for gay men.
B2: Howard's bar
Howards Bar, or Robbie’s as it was often called, was a pub opposite Snow Hill Station that stood in the 50s until the 60s when it was demolished to make way for ring road developments. The upstairs lounge was very popular with gay men, sometimes referred to as a “poof parlour”
b3: Kennedy Gardens
This was a roundabout which featured public toilets that were very popular with gay men for cottaging and cruising. The toilets were filled in in the 80s whilst the roundabout was demolished much more recently in 2007.
b4: Guys limited
Guys Limited was Birmingham’s first gay run gay club. It existed from 1966 to 1973 in the Birmingham markets area, where the wholesale markets are now. The owners later opened up Grosvenor House on the Hagley Road.
b5; prowler
Prowler is a gay sex shop that used to be near New Street Station and had quite an interesting downstairs.
b6: Cruising grounds
Throughout the 70s 80s and 90s many dark spots along the Birmingham Canals were used for cruising/cottaging spots for gay men.
b7: The imoerial hotel bar
In the late 80s and early 90s a basement bar in the imperial hotel held popular womens nights.
b8: the village inn
The Village Inn is one of the longest established and most popular bars located in the heart of Birmingham’s gay village, and one of the ealry pioneers in the Gay Village. At night The Village Inn transforms into the U.K.’s leading live cabaret venue presenting live shows 7 days a week.
b9: Nightingales mark iii
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.