I’m grateful to the Editor of QB Magazine - David Edgley for making our event so very special on Wednesday, November 8th. Generously, he entertained, amused and interested us with a splendid presentation called - A guide to strange places, a tour of places of gay interest in Nottinghamshire We listened and watched with fascination as he led us through the decades of our own familiar history – faces we recognised and venues we have visited bringing back so many emotional memories. As usual, the meeting went well with Terry’s delicious sandwiches, Alan’s help with the drinks and kind contributions from Iain and James – but, the big event was those memories made live by David’s tour de force. The venerable Shirley Macredie died in 2018 but appeared on the big screen in our living room several times. Shirley made enormous contributions to the quality of life for those of us who share same-sex attraction in Nottingham and Worksop. Equally honoured was Ross Smith with photographs of him at La Chic Part Two on Canal Street which he opened as the new manager in 1981. The original La Chic lasted from 1973 to 1977. From the mid-1960s to about 1970, I was taken under the wing of Ted Barlow and David Betts the well-known Barbets. I recall sitting in their open top sports car on a hot August evening in 1966 being driven through Nottingham City Centre past all the main gay pubs. We were raucously festive; shouting yoo-hoo waving like mad at goggle-eyed outdoor drinkers. Sadly (or perhaps not so sad) David Edgley was not there to photograph this outrageous event, but Ross Smith and I discussed my Barbet days at a lavish party at Walton’s Hotel in 2011 to celebrate Ted’s 80th birthday. We joked about the Barbets being a common link and historic gay gossip on the lines of – ‘Oh, haven’t you heard? Narvel is out of favour! Ross Smith is all the rage now!’ Chickenhood has a short shelf life. David Edgley did include photographs of a very important Nottinghamshire Rainbow Heritage event in February 2009. We all assembled on the top floor of Nottingham’s Waterstones when, very kindly, he invited me to speak as the Guest of Honour. Above are three photographs of Narvel from the "View from the Top", a gallery above Waterstones Bookshop, Nottingham from 2009. This was part of Nottinghamshire's Rainbow Heritage's Exhibitions, and photographs provided to the Our Nottinghamshire website (www.ournottinghamshire.org.uk) by David Edgley.
I ended up chatting to a real LGBT celebrity with impressive qualifications. He was the late Tony Fenwick of Schools OUT. Tony had been eloquent and articulate the previous Sunday defending the gay cause on National BBC TV in the Big Question programme. David showed us a photograph of several people trapped in the Waterstone’s lift! It was quite a squeeze but they were eventually rescued. All in all, a memorable evening. Alas, David’s tour through the decades took us to some dark places. There was a grim time when the local papers were full of John and Billy. John Clarkson and his boyfriend Bill were sent to prison after Nottingham police found a Christmas card signed - “To Billy, with all my love, as ever - John”. John was bullied into admitting that he had slept with Billy. Held separately at the police station, each was told that the other one had confessed to an act of gross indecency. In other words, they both gave statements incriminating each other. A trial took place at Nottingham Crown Court, a humiliating trial which involved ushers holding up bed sheets and a clerk pointing out stains to the jury. A jar of Vaseline was passed around. Jurors were told to notice a few pubic hairs. Words like disgust, perverts, slimy, degenerate, vile and abomination - appeared in the Nottingham Evening Post. A profoundly depressing story. David Edgley and I are of a similar age; what is not similar are the periods of our activism in combatting homophobia. In the 1960s, I was living in Detroit keeping my head down in dread of being outed as a homosexual. In contrast, David was openly striving with groups like the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) laying the foundation for others to build a better future. We saw pictures of his early leaflets which developed into the excellent Queer Bulletin magazine and his outstanding efforts creating Nottinghamshire Rainbow Heritage and launching the Gay Switchboard. It has not always been easy leading and encouraging David’s team. In the face of ignorance and bigotry, there were many setbacks well illustrated and explained in his talk, but David fights on as he has done for 56 years. It took me decades to find the courage to reveal to the world my true self. Lost Lad published in 2003 was my first openly gay novel – effectively outing myself years after David took his first brave step. Since he first published a prominent review of Scruffy Chicken in 2006 in QB, David has never failed to encourage me with strong support. Again, I express my sincere thanks for honouring us with his presence at our home on November 8th. Narvel Annable Comments are closed.
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