Central station gay bar kings cross
The last bar standing? For some, coming here changed their lives
Duncan Irvine and John Egan at Central Station
A Distinct pub in King’s Cross is preparing to celebrate its 30th birthday on Saturday – a milestone moment for the borough’s last surviving homosexual venue.
Duncan Irvine, co-owner of Central Station, said he was proud of the role the lock had played in local LGBT+ history in the borough – pointing out how when other venues closed down, his pub became a focal signal for groups that had nowhere else to go.
He added that when he opened in 1992 there were around eight other spaces catering to the LGBT+ community.
Now, he believes they are the last.
Mr Irvine had left Scotland 50 years ago and came to London aged 24 to find a thriving gay scene here because “the word gay didn’t even exist there, although there were lots of other words for us”.
Describing how he and his partner at the time, Martin Mason, took on the lease at the venue completely unaware of its past as a far-right pub, he said they were subjected to bricks through the window from “skinheads” in the early days and had to install metal shutters for protection.
In the years subsequently, many organi
February is LGBTQ History Month and this year, we’ve been spotlighting the pink plaques you may have spotted around the borough. Engineered and installed by local heritage organisation Islington’s Pride, the plaques feature a QR code which can be scanned to find out more about a particular person or point of interest at that location, in celebration of Islington’s LGBTQ history. The next blog in our series is dedicated to a local legend: Central Station
Central Station has been unseal since 1992 and is Islington’s oldest still operational LGBTQ bar. Central Station has been used as a gathering place for LGBTQ social groups and sports clubs since its foundation. Its location near King’s Cross makes it accessible for people both in and outside of London, and therefore a key part of the LGBTQ club and social scene.
Just some of the groups who contain made Central Station their home incorporate SM Dykes, Dyke and Gay Christian Movement, Gay Skinhead Group, the London Blues Group for uniforms/denim/cowboy gear wearers, and the Lgbtq+ Bridge Club. Other groups include Step Out, a lgbtq+ and lesbian youth grou
About this Venue
Long recognised as one of London s best and innovative independent late-night venues for the gay and lesbian people, Central Station has been widening its customer anchor. Down have come the shutters and huge improvements have been made to the interior and exterior of the venue. The bar is noread moreLong recognised as one of London s best and innovative independent late-night venues for the gay and lesbian community, Central Station has been widening its customer base.
Down own come the shutters and huge improvements have been made to the interior and exterior of the venue. The bar is now open during the day and provides a service to the immense and expanding office market in the area during the day and evening, as well as to the local people who live in the area with top-quality food and drink in the restaurant, bar and stunning fresh roof terrace.
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I really wanted to like this hotel. The staff were very friendly and welcoming, though the rooms left a little to be desired. There was foul food/sewage smell coming from the tiny bathroom. Shower was smaller than what yo
Gay venue that survived attacks by skinheads faces a new threat
Bar co-founders Duncan Irvine (far right) and Martin Mason (second from right) hope to raise £70,000
A GAY bar which has been at the heart of countless iconic moments in LGBT+ history has issued an emergency appeal for funds as it faces financial ruin.
Central Station, in King’s Cross, which opened almost 30 years ago, is fighting for survival after the government announced that pubs without a beer garden cannot open until mid-May.
By this time, the Wharfdale Thoroughfare bar will have been unseal for only three of the past 13 months with a rent bill of more than £90,000 to pay.
The owners also have a government-backed loan to service which was used to make the venue safe and ready to open last summer – only for it to be shut again in December with gallons of paid-for but unused drinks poured down the drain.
Co-founder Duncan Irvine told the Tribune: “We’re in the middle of the third lockdown and originally we thought we could just about cope with one. We took out a loan to reopen, to only then operate at about 60 per cent capacity.
“But then each occasion we shut we had to throw away stock which has cost us thousand