1970s – The Grand in Hanley
The Grand – Sketch by Andrew Colclough assisted by AI
The Grand in Trinity Street, Hanley was a hotel built at the end of the nineteenth century adjacent to the Hanley railway station which is now long gone. Community members say it was known as a potential meeting place for gay people long before the decriminalisation of sex between men, even as far back as the second world war.
The discreet use of bars in large city hotels was commonplace throughout the UK in the early to mid twentieth century. Due to the illegality and widespread social stigma of homosexuality, these venues were not openly advertised as gay bars but became known to gay men and women as places they could meet in relative safety.
Following the decriminalisation of sex between men in 1967 and the subsequent gay liberation movement, gay friendly venues started to be more openly promoted. The Grand Hotel was one of the venues in the first listings that appeared for Stoke-on-Trent in issue 27 of Gay News published in July 1973. The hotel continued to be listed as a gay meeting place throughout the 1970s though it seems likely that the information was provided by community members rather than by the hotel itself.
The Grand Hotel was built next to Hanley railway station on the old Potteries loop line
In modern times it became the “Quality Hotel”
Booted Out in 1980
The venue ceased to be popular as a gay venue in 1980 following a “ban” implemented after it was taken over by the Reo Stakis chain. The following article published in Gay News in December 1980 reports that the decision had been challenged but the hotel did not back down. So the long era of the Grand being used as a discreet gay friendly venue finally ended and community members moved on elsewhere.
“Booted Out” reported in Gay News, December 1980
Revisiting the Grand in the 1980s
My partner was born in 1935; we met in 1986 and some years afterwards he took me on a tour of the venues that had been discreetly used by homosexual men in his younger adult life. The main lounge bar in The Grand Hotel in Hanley was one of the places he took me to but by the time we visited in the late 1980s it had long ceased to be used as a gay friendly venue. Other places he talked to me about as early Stoke gay scene venues included The Antelope, The Star, The Stage Door and the 141 Club,
Copyright Notice
News clippings in this post were compiled by Andrew Colclough from various archives as part of his personal research into local LGBT+ history and are shared here for educational purposes on the basis of fair personal/non commercial use. Copyright, where applicable, remains with the original publishers. Photographs are believed to be in the public domain and sources are credited where possible – please contact us if any further permissions or acknowledgments are required. All original text is © Andrew Colclough. Thank you!