The police raid on a secret queer nightclub 1933 provis wh an sight to the liv of gay men terwar London, cludg their fiance the face of crimalisatn and persecutn.
Contents:
- THE GAY CARAVAN AND MOTORHOME CLUB
- REVIVED: THE 1930S LONDON GAY MEMBERS' CLUB RAID BY POLICE
- MISS HARDY AND ‘THE MA GAY’ CARAVAN
THE GAY CARAVAN AND MOTORHOME CLUB
The Gay Caravan & Motorhome Club is the longt nng UK based club for the gay muny; who jt happen to share a mon tert and own eher a Caravan, Tent or Motorhome. The Gay Caravan And Motorhome Club.
The Gay Caravan and Motorhome Club is the longt nng UK-based club (although we have members overseas) for the gay muny, who have a mon tert and own a Caravan, Tent or Motorhome, and enjoy sharg tim away wh others throughout the UK, and ocsnally Europe wh like-md people; our meets and ralli are n by members for members. Vis The Gay Caravan And Motorhome Club on social media. We are a mpg and ravan club for gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenred people.
The Gay Caravan and Motorhome Club (GCMC) was tablished 1990, although at that time was lled and known as The Gay Caravan and Campg Club (GCCC), the name then changed 2014 to clu Motorhome to the tle. The Club has grown om strength to strength over the years and ntu to be a succs today through matag s valu, of promotg iendships, beg relaxed and rmal, nsiratn to others, and sharg tim away wh other members that jt happen to be om the gay muny. Members will tell you 's a great club to belong to bee we really do brg gay people together sharg our mon tert an outdoor way of life that we all enjoy.
REVIVED: THE 1930S LONDON GAY MEMBERS' CLUB RAID BY POLICE
To some, the Caravan Club was a fun place offerg iendship and “all-night gaiety”; to others was “absolutely a sk of iquy … only equented by sexual perverts, lbians and sodom” the police, was a place so dangero that required regular surveillance and a raid, which rulted more than 100, more than 80 years after s enforced closure, the Natnal Tst and the Natnal Archiv have llaborated to recreate the Caravan Club, a lbian and gay iendly members’ club that billed self as “London’s greatt bohemian renzvo said to be the most unnventnal place town” Watson, creative director of the Natnal Tst London, said the project would help provi “a timely remr of the importance of siled cultur to our natnal herage” Caravan Club was one of many mostly temporary venu at a time when beg openly gay was perilo, often rultg prosecutn and sketch plan of the Caravan Club.
Police appear to have been statned the Shaftbury Theatre oppose, watchg the gs and gogs om uned was not until Augt 1934 that the raid me, wh placloth officers easily enterg by pretendg to be of the club, one of many mostly temporary venu that existed when beg openly gay was perilo. It is one of a number of events beg held across the UK to mark the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offenc Act, the landmark moment which crimalised private homosexual acts between men over 21 England and will be the endpot of walkg tours of Soho featurg long-gone venu, such as Billie’s Club on Ltle Denmark Street and the Shim Sham Club, now an O’Neill’s but the 1930s a gay iendly jazz venue even more shockg bee was equented by black men “dancg wh whe women” Queer Cy project is part of a wir programme tryg to change the perceptn of the Natnal Tst specifilly and herage more wily. It is also part of the tst’s year-long Prejudice and Pri programme unearthg often-secret gay histori om s properti.
MISS HARDY AND ‘THE MA GAY’ CARAVAN
Miss Hardy’s nephews pictured wh ‘The Ma Gay’ at Cathedral Close, Salisbury, around 1911. Miss San Hardy pictured on the steps of her ravan ‘The Ma Gay’, wh two of her sisters Lavia (left) and Effie (right). ‘The Ma Gay’ pictured at The Caravan Club New Fort Meet, Cadnam, Hampshire, 1914.
Thanks to Miss Hardy’s great-nephew I was able to get my first glimpse of the horse-drawn ravan that she once owned, named ‘The Ma Gay’, a charmg picture which featured his father and uncle wh the ´van as children.