Coleherne, Earls Court
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The Coleherne Arms 1866 public house was a
gay pub A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities. Gay bars once served as ...
in west London. Located at 261 Old Brompton Road, Earl's Court, it was a popular landmark leather bar during the 1970s and 1980s. In 2008, it was rebranded as a gastropub, The Pembroke.


History

The Coleherne Arms 1866 (named after the Coleherne family) began life in 1866, at 261 Old Brompton Road. It had a long history of attracting a bohemian clientele before becoming known as a
gay pub A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities. Gay bars once served as ...
. A lifelong resident of Earl's Court Square, Jennifer Ware, recollected as a child being taken there to Sunday lunch in the 1930s; at that time, drag entertainers performed after lunch had finished. It became a gay pub in the mid-fifties. Originally it was segregated into two bars, one for the straight crowd and one for the gay community at a time when homosexuality was illegal. In the 1970s it became a notorious leather bar, with blacked-out windows, attracting an international crowd including
Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...
, Kenny Everett, Mike Procter, Anthony Perkins, Rupert Everett,
Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural i ...
and Derek Jarman. Leather men wearing
chaps Chaps ( or ) are sturdy coverings for the legs consisting of leggings and a belt. They are buckled on over trousers with the chaps' integrated belt, but unlike trousers, they have no seat (the term "assless chaps" is a tautology) and are not jo ...
and leather jackets with key chains and colour-coded handkerchiefs formed the clientele, justifying its nickname of 'The Cloneherne'. The Coleherne was known internationally as a leather bar by 1965. The gay community flourished in Earls Court and many international tourists joined the locals. It sought to lighten its image with a makeover in the mid-1990s to attract a wider clientele, but to no avail. In September 2008, it was purchased by Realpubs, underwent a major refurbishment and reopened as a gastropub, The Pembroke. The Coleherne was reputed to be the oldest gay pub in London before reopening as the Pembroke; the title then fell to the King Edward VI in
Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...
, which closed in 2011; then the Queen's Head in Chelsea which closed in 2016. The Markham Arms at 138 King's Road, which closed in the early 1990s and is now a bank branch, was a gay pub on Saturdays only.


Notable events

Coleherne pub-goers, angry at the politicisation of gay sex, lifestyle and position in society by the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), pelted passing parade-goers with bottles in 1972. Over the years, many police arrests were made for a range of offences, including obstruction, soliciting, importuning, and the more serious conspiracy to corrupt public morals, in the street outside the pub at night when customers left at closing time. These arrests were often just as a result of little more than gay men standing in the street talking to each other—despite the fact that many other non-gay pubs in the area used to have similar crowds at closing time, with no police action taken against them. There were several local street disturbances and demonstrations in the 1970s and 1980s as a result of continual, decades-long police harassment around the Coleherne. In its latter years the pub was infamous as having been the stalking ground for three separate serial killers from the 1970s to the 1990s:
Dennis Nilsen Dennis Andrew Nilsen (23 November 1945 – 12 May 2018) was a Scottish serial killer and necrophile who murdered at least twelve young men and boys between 1978 and 1983 in London. Convicted at the Old Bailey of six counts of murder and two of ...
,
Michael Lupo Michael del Marco Lupo (19 January 1953 – 12 February 1995) was a serial killer originally from Italy, who was active in the UK. He operated from the Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves Saint Laurent boutique in Brompton Road, London during th ...
and
Colin Ireland Colin Ireland (16 March 1954 – 21 February 2012) was a British serial killer known as the Gay Slayer because his victims were gay. Criminologist David Wilson believes that Ireland was a psychopath. Ireland suffered a severely dysfunctio ...
. Ireland committed five murders in 1993, after making a New Year's resolution to become a serial killer. Although he later claimed to be straight, he picked up men at the Coleherne, whose colour-coded handkerchiefs indicated that they were into
sadomasochism Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...
and passive. He accompanied his victims to their homes, where he restrained and then killed them.


Popular culture

American author Armistead Maupin included references to the Coleherne in his '' Tales of the City'' book ''
Babycakes ''Babycakes'' (1984) is the fourth book in the ''Tales of the City'' series by American novelist Armistead Maupin, originally serialized in the ''San Francisco Chronicle''. Plot elements Babycakes is the term of affection the protagonist, Micha ...
''.
''He left as a clock was striking ten somewhere and walked several blocks past high-windowed brick buildings to a gay pub called the Coleherne. These were the leather boys, apparently. He ordered another gin and tonic and stood at the bulletin board reading announcements about Gay Tory meetings and 'jumble sales' to benefit deaf lesbians.''
''When he returned to the horseshoe-shaped bar, the man across from him smiled broadly. He was a kid really, not more than eighteen or nineteen, and his skin was the same shade as the dark ale he was drinking. His hair was the startling part - soft brown ringlets that glinted with gold under the light, floating above his mischievous eyes like ... well, like the froth on his ale.''
The pub is referred to in the lyrics of 'Hanging Around' on the debut album '' Rattus Norvegicus'' by The Stranglers.


References

{{Pubs in London 1866 establishments in England Earls Court Leather bars and clubs Leather subculture Pubs in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea