Explore five beloved LGBTQ+ pubs in Cambridge that provided community and safe spaces before disappearing.
February is LGBT history month. It celebrates gay rights and LGBTQ+ figures in the UK. We can look back at the city’s lost queer spaces, vital for community. People met, had fun, and felt safe there.
The Anchor pub still stands on Silver Street. It used to host basement discos for LGBTQ+ people, but is now a fancy riverside spot. In the late 70s, all types of queer people gathered there. One woman remembers the drama of seeing a butch woman ask a cop to dance.
The Jigsaw shop is on Trinity Street. It used to be The Turks Head pub, where Terry (“Mother”) ran the place in the 80s. He built a strong community there and people gave him flowers on Mother’s Day.
The 451 Club was on Newmarket Road. It was a cheesy, fun place with disco balls and a 70s dance floor. Police often watched the club then. One woman says police accused people of being drunk, though she felt safe with her friends.
The Five Bells, also on Newmarket Road, was a pub for queer women. It had a lesbian landlady. Lara Jaffey met her first girlfriend at The Five Bells. The pub closed in 2002 after fifteen years, and its building was torn down in 2017. Now, The Bird or Worm bar stands there.
Town and Gown (T&G) opened in the late 90s and became a key queer space in Cambridge. It had three bars, including a disco in the old stables. Graham Lewis liked how it served everyone. Transgender group, The Diamonds, often came. They also had a fetish night. The pub’s owner, John, passed away, forcing his partner to give up the pub. It is now The Punter after renovations.