Pride Month: The surprising queer history of Mansfield Road

I’ve always had a strange fascination for old buildings but it wasn’t until I started researching for the Notts Queer History Project that I appreciated how many areas in Nottingham have been queer havens. As a queer, non-binary person, I know all too well how safe spaces are vital, yet being eroded by several factors including gentrification and rent prices.

The sad news that The Natural Food Company is set to close after 50 years inspired me to write about the Queer history of Mansfield Road. Amazingly, the street now known for takeaways, student accommodation and pubs was once quite LGBT+ but to examine it properly, we need to start in the 1960s.

1960- 1970

Pub and club culture was very different in the sixties thanks to earlier closing times. Once the pubs kicked out, many of Nottingham’s drinkers would race to the top of Mansfield Road, yes up that up that massive hill, to the Bamboo Cafe at the very top of the street. The Bamboo was part of the new cafe culture craze that had moved into England associated with the youth movement, the mods.

The cafe was often so packed that many would stand outside and it could sometimes be the final chance to meet someone for the evening. It is not clear what made it a gay-friendly cafe but usually, it came down to sympathetic staff who understood how difficult it could be for people to be here, queer and offered their premises. Sometimes, in the case of several of the bars, the staff themselves were LGBT+ such as The Parkside or Flying Horse Inn.

It's not clear when the cafe closed or fell out of favour with the in crowd but did become one of the first places in Nottingham to sell pizza. Not surprising given that the city had such a big Italian community who settled after the war, particularly in Sneinton and Colwick.

1970-1980

Heading into the seventies, Mansfield Road became the location for Nottingham’s Lesbian and Gay Switchboard at the Community and Voluntary Service Space (CVS). This was not just a phone line but a drop-in space where people could go for information, support and to meet others. Amazingly, the phoneline, which was run entirely by volunteers, is still going strong today although it is now renamed as Notts LGBT+ Network. You can still volunteer here today.

The switchboard was very close to Ouroboros which was the original name for The Natural Food Company. Ouroboros placed many adverts in the local gay press including Gay! Nottingham which helped to keep the freesheets circulating. A valuable resource in the days before an internet search would tell you where to go.

This image, which is on display in the window of the shop in the run-up to the closure, shows another building in the background, York House. York House was once the home of BBC East Midlands and Nottingham Trent University but was knocked down in 2014 due to dereliction.

York House stood next door to The Roebuck Pub. The Roebuck was another pub favourited by the LGBT+ community in the seventies which may have had something to do with the landlady Maxine (also affectionately referred to as Max or Maxi on occasion). Max was a lesbian, and a fantastic piano player, who took over running the pub with her partner, Dot.

It is unclear when Maxine left The Roebuck but it did become Bobby Browns and Old Moores Tavern for a while before it was eventually demolished. During its time, it had become a home to many LGBT+ people as well as drag acts and some of Nottingham’s sex workers along with exotic dancers. Many of the clubs in the city had started employing strippers as entertainment in the late sixties and seventies.

1980 - 1990

The eighties saw the LGBT+ venues move further up Mansfield Road as The Forest Tavern became the place to go. It was especially popular with the women as it had a big pool table. The pub had a strong sense of community and was only a stone's throw from other LGBT+ housing areas such as Forest Fields and Sherwood.

The informal atmosphere meant it was the place to go for a pint after work, to meet people and also pick up copies of the free gay press such as the Pink Paper.

1990 -2000

Eventually, as the nineties approached, The Forest Tavern underwent a makeover which saw the development of the backroom as a ‘club’ which later became a music venue when it was The Maze (RIP). The front bar remained but as a much smaller space and the back was renamed Triangles.

Run by Mary and Vickie, the club had a stained glass window display and was much more of a club atmosphere. The change meant that a lot of the older clientele lost their pub space but the younger crowd gained a club. As music and drink culture shifted around this time thanks to the opening of more clubs like Kitsch on Greyhound Street and NG1 in 2000.

This may account for a shift towards the black-and white pub, The Nag’s Head at the top of Manfield ROad as there was an attempt to take over the back bar. Although neither pub remains today - The Maze/Forest Tavern is now student accommodation and The Nag’s Head is now Mega CLose offices.

Queer space shift and move over time for many reasons. Mansfield Road is just one of the locations that has been LGBT+ over the years. It does show signs of making a queer comeback however as The Peacock has recently reopened with a huge rainbow flag in the upstairs curved windows.

The Nottingham Queer History Books are due in July 2024 from Five Leaves Bookshop.