Pink Punters: a tribute

 I am very sad to hear that fire has destroyed the Pink Punters night club in England. 

Like many, I benefited very much from the security afforded by a dedicated LGBT venue when I was a nervous debutante. The owner has indicated he will rebuild and I wish him every good fortune in that. 

Firstly, a tribute to the staff, who have also received praise from the fire service, for evacuating everyone without fuss or injuries (it's a big place spread over three floors and a yard and holds up to 650 people). At a time when one of the chief items of news where I now live is the inquiry into the New Year's Eve fire at a not dissimilar venue at Crans-Montana in Switzerland, where 41 young people died and 115 were injured, not enough thanks and attention is given to people who do things right in these circumstances. Owner Frank McMahon deserves praise for ensuring his staff were properly trained and safety procedures operated correctly. I believe Frank lost his home as well as his business in the blaze. All my love and sympathy to him and the staff for the effects on their livelihoods and for the trauma suffered. Also the distress no doubt suffered by the person arrested on suspicion of arson who has now been released. And the patrons there at the time. The human costs of these tragedies is underestimated.

In the first instance, when LGBT people, and especially trans people, are under open attack from UK authorities, the media and hate groups, it was hard not to attribute malice to the fire. But arson has been ruled out by the police and fire brigade and the blaze is deemed to have been accidental. It does follow a spate of smaller fires at the venue. 

It takes a long time to recover from tragedies like this and I have sent PPs thanks for past times and such hope for their future as I can offer.

Pink Punters was a local institution and many straight and cis people in the Milton Keynes area went there in preference to clubs elsewhere in a city that is often criticised for its poor nightlife because they found it safe, well run and more fun. I recall one evening when my friends and I went on a non-trans night and it was full of local clubbers with us TGirls as a minority. That's good, actually, as I look forward to a day when the term "trans-friendly" is redundant and everyone can feel welcome and at home anywhere.

So thank you, Pink Punters, for being the venue where I had my very first evening out in public and attended my very first event as Sue, in January 2010. The friends I met on that occasion are still good friends. The fact that UK Angels chose PPs as the venue for a national meet-up on their tenth anniversary that day is a tribute to the place. I revisited several times and eventually was privileged to be able to accompany other girls there on their first outings. Like Leeds First Friday, Nottingham Invasion, Sparkle and the like, Pink Punters has been a significant focus for the UK's trans community, and the colourful Pink Punters double decker bus is frequently seen at Pride parades and other events (see below). I wish PPs well in its expressed desire to rise from the ashes, like the brilliantly coloured phoenix bird of legend. 

You can send messages of support to PPs via their message form Pink Punters messages, via PPs' Facebook or Instagram pages, or through local LGBT charities. 

I have only a few photos immediately to hand from the days when Pink Punters was a regular venue for me, in the years 2010-2013, but here are some of those I can muster at present: 

PP's official photo of Ange and me, May 2010

With a bunch of girls including Emma W, Mandy, Tina, Helen ... Feb 2011

With Maddy in the yard, Dec 2012

With Tiff and Ange, upstairs lounge, Oct 2010

With Emma W and Mandy upstairs, Feb 2011

On the main dancefloor. There's another dancefloor deep down in the depths of the dark basement for weird types who like to thrash around to louder noise.

Not playing pool. May 2010

Upstairs, Feb 2011 

Upstairs, Oct 2010

With Tiff, Ange and Gayna in the Yard, May 2010

With Emma H, Gina, Tiff, Maddy and Bobby, Dec 2012

Waiting to go in ...

... and returning to the hotel opposite the club.

The Pink Punters bus at Sparkle 2010 (with Emma doing her thing on stage).

Most of my visits there were before I started this blog but I have previously written about three of the times I went, which present as an illustration of what PPs was to us. 

January 2010 

December 2012

December 2013 

Thank you, Pinks, for all the good times. May there be more.

Sue x 

Work hard, play hard, seduce hard!

This is a kind of sequel to my last but one post.

I’ve had a lot of work this last fortnight. I won’t reveal details but I work for myself in a varied field involving a lot of international contacts. Anything from French TV licencing, German motorway construction, Italian nuclear waste management, Belgian pensions, American diplomats, Canadian web design, Filipino scientists, Pakistani law. Oh, and champagne promotions and beauty product advertising. That's just in the last couple of weeks. The point is that I use my male name and credentials which have a certain profile in my field now, but can work as female from my studio or my home. Best of both worlds, in effect. And, let’s face it, business needs a bit of acumen these days so going full-time female on an official basis with all its social and professional upheavals is avoided.

But being busy hasn’t stopped me from getting out one or two evenings a week. Let’s face it, I need time away from the desk/computer/easel.

So Wednesday of last week I joined the Brick Lane Set for dinner. Gillian came to mine after work to dress and we drove there but it took ages in the London traffic and we got shot off in the wrong direction after one tiny mistake in Central London. That’s one reason why I don’t drive here any more. But we had a good evening with Rachel the Organiser Lady and her posse including Suzi, who was out for the very first time, and the glamorous Pippa. I’d also invited my friend Irene. Here we all are at the Verge Bar.

The Brick Lane set in Verge; me, Pippa, Suzi, Rachel, Irene. Photo taken by Gillian and lent to me by Pippa.

 

I’m always thrilled to be with a girl on her first trip out. It makes the occasion very special. Well done, Suzi. You are very elegant and are lovely company. Hope it’s the start of a joyous life out in this big exciting world of ours.

We went off to eat at Loco Mojito http://www.locomojito.co.uk/ [NB site no longer active] where I’ve been a few times before. A Mexican that stands defiantly in a sea of Indian restaurants! Food wasn’t bad but the wine (a pinot grigio rosé) was terrible – the bottle was some bin end with a £2.99 label still stuck on it, and I won’t tell you what they charged for it! And they didn’t serve coffee. But, to be fair, that was the only time I’ve felt slightly disappointed there.

By the way, if you clicked on the link, you’ll be amused or irritated by the music or maybe both. 

Us in Loco Mojito, Pippa's photo.

Pippa and I decided the night was young and headed off to Soho. We had a drink in Escape bar, a karaoke sort of place which, truthfully, is not my thing and so I dived into Trannyshack next door, which is what Madame JoJo’s is on Wednesdays. I described my first visit to Trannyshack last summer here http://suerichmond.blogspot.co.uk/2012_06_01_archive.html

This time, as a lone girl, I was beset by Admirers, a special breed of men who love TGirls. Within moments of entering one had his paws all over me and was saying in an accent I couldn’t place, “Nice lady, come to toilet”.

Now why would I want to come with him to the toilet?

“Nice lady, come. Come to toilet. Toilet nice. I got condom.”

“No, toilet not nice.”

He looked at me in surprise: “But toilet nice!” he exclaimed as if it was a self-evident truth.

I politely declined. Apart from the fact that the toilets there are in any case cramped and inadequate, and, more to the point, that I don’t fancy that with a strange man, it somewhat dismayed me that this chat-up line was something that presumably brings him occasional success.

Then I got a drink. The barmaid rammed a block of fused ice cubes into the top of the glass with her fist. It wedged there inelegantly like an iceberg on an empty container ship. Darling, please use tongs, not the hand you handle money with. Yuck. I didn’t enjoy my drink as a result. Should’ve made her do it properly but it’s hard to concentrate when some bloke is pawing you.

So I left the bar and sat down. Bad move, as the next admirer plonked himself down next to me and grabbed my knee. “I think you have nice soft bottom” he said in his North African accent. I pointed out that that was my knee and that it was probably a bit hard. Not in the least bit put off, he continued his silver-tongued litany: “I come home with you tonight and we f***?”

Er, how about no?

He downed his beer, got up and said, “Wait, I go to toilet. I full of wee tonight.” A few minutes later he was back, having bought himself another beer, and went through the routine all over again. Hmm. Buy a girl a drink and maybe see if things improve? Nope, not on his radar.

These encounters are at once amusing and tragic, a tranny tragicomedy, the tranny shock at Trannyshack. They must get off sometimes, these admirers. But the total lack of finesse and charm is staggering. At least these two weren’t scruffy and menacing-looking like other admirers I’ve seen. My mood wasn’t helped by Pippa then bouncing in announcing, “God, the real women in this place are just gagging for it!”. Miss Dusty O, the compère, then announced a noisy T rock band and I realised my visit had not been a success. You win some, you lose some. Truthfully, the T scene is not really my thing as I prefer a normal venue like a restaurant, café, shop, pub, etc. But I’ll give Trannyshack a third visit some time and see how that goes.

As ever, I’d just missed the night bus and had to wait almost 30 minutes for the next one. I’d selected my knee-length leather skirt and mock-croc boots for the evening and they kept me warm in the chill wintry air, as well as my thick coat. Finally collapsed in bed at 3.30am and slept in all the next morning. Truthfully, I’m getting a bit too old for this!

This post is longer than I expected, so I’ll tell you about this week’s shenanigans in a new post. Thanks for reading, and I hope you had a giggle.

Sue x

Nostalgia trip to Pink Punters

My first public appearance as a nervous debutante was almost three years ago, at Pink Punters. I hadn’t revisited this well-known LGBT club on the edge of Milton Keynes for almost two years so I thought that a nostalgic return was appropriate now that I have achieved so much as a TGirl. Besides, many of my friends were going to be there, which was the main reason for going.

I decided, partly for convenience and partly, I think, from an increasing feeling of relaxation over my trans status, to travel to and from Milton Keynes in male mode. For the last couple of years I have travelled to trans events in female mode. There are reasons for this switch, which I might bore you with in a different post.

I started with lunch and a quick trip round Milton Keynes’ vast shopping centre with Tiff and Mrs Tiff, who kindly picked me up from the station. I restocked on ballet flats as my others have been all worn out now on the unforgiving pavements of London.

Impressive Christmas grotto in Milton Keynes shopping centre.

Then to the Campanile hotel opposite the club where I showered, shaved, did my makeup and nails and hair, and dressed, all in a leisurely two hours (compared to the same taking over four hours on my first trip there).

Because of the trouble and expense of dining away from the hotel we dared to eat dinner there. The food used to be fairly poor but it has improved and my dinner was good enough, though the few staff were hard-pressed in the crowded bar/dining room to maintain quick service. Anyway, it was nice to chat to old friends Ange, Tiff and Mrs Tiff, Maddy, Bobby and Mrs Bobby over dinner and meet new people such as Gina, whose recent rapid foray into the world is impressive, and Emma H and Mrs Emma, who know where to get some fabulous rings. I also caught up with Leila (who travelled with me and Emma W to this year’s Sparkle). All these girls have the most fabulous dresses imaginable, and wear them beautifully. I’m going to have to up my game considerably if I want to remain on the scene!

Dining at the Campanile with Ange, the first TGirl I ever met.

I changed outfit for the club. It too is having a change of look, but is still essentially the same, with its outside bar/seating/smoking area, quieter top bar, main dancefloor in the middle and killer dance area in the basement. Apparently there are new changing rooms and toilets, but I didn't see those (I have camel genes and don't use the loo). £8 entry, and drinks not too overpriced for a club. So many locals attend Pink Punters even though it’s billed as an LGBT club, which shows it must be a good venue. For me, it’s a place to meet up with other TGirls and view the latest in tranny chic. Very short tight dresses and stockings are unlikely to go out of fashion here, hence my choosing a short lace dress and suspender tights.

Being the Girls’ Big Night Out it was packed with TGirls, more than I have seen before there. It was good to meet Josie there, back from abroad, and meet her wife for the first time, and also Maddy’s friend Zoe Marie. I’m glad I stuck to drinking water throughout as they have installed a variety of heaters and the outside fire is bigger than ever, with the result that it was actually pretty hot there and my wig now smells of coal smoke.

So, in all, another enjoyable evening catching up with friends and admiring frocks and discussing big issues such as the merits of tights over stockings.

I now really, really want to get to the Nottingham Invasion this month. Will time and money conspire against it? Watch this space, I guess.

Sue x

Nottingham: my third Invasion

 

As I’ve said before on these pages, the TGirls in Nottingham have really sorted themselves out and have a lot of activities to keep them amused and sane. The monthly Nottingham Invasion is one of the better monthly meets around the country mainly as there is no ‘gay ghetto’ to confine the wanderings of the trans posse. The Invasion bossladies, Sam and Maddy, are to be commended for making this such a success.

So, as previously, I stayed in the very pleasant New Gables hotel run by Debbie and Maria, and met some of my oldest and closest friends there. I booked a table at the recommended Noor Jahan restaurant where we ate a substantial, tasty and good value meal with attentive service. Recommended. I was particularly pleased with being addressed as Madam on the phone. My female voice is improving.

Good food and good company. At Noor Jahan with some of my closest friends. 

Left to right: Jo, me, Ange, Maddy and Tiff.

New Foresters pub is the gateway to the proceedings and where most of the girls meet first for a drink and a chat. We moved on to the Newmarket Inn, an Australian gay pub which I hadn’t visited before and which had a party on to celebrate its first birthday. I quite liked its traditional interior (see picture). The TGirls at the bar are really beautiful. On the down side, I found the karaoke too loud.

At the Newmarket Inn

Another venue I’d not visited before was the Queen of Clubs which was not bad apart from the deafening music throughout which makes conversation impossible except in the quite pleasant ladies’ loos. I jerked about a bit which is what passes for dancing with me.

And finally to the NG1 club which is my favourite Nottingham venue as it has an attractive bar area where you can have a conversation without having to shout over the music, which is confined to a completely separate dancefloor area.

So that's a brief summary of the venues we visited. For me it's not the locations that count but an opportunity to meet up with some really nice people and catch up with all our news.

Nottingham has really got a lot to offer the out-and-about TGirl and I now recommend it to all girls who want a good night out and are prepared to travel. Many thanks to Tiff, Maddy, Ange, Jo, Gayna, Lynn, Rachael S., Rachel K.S., Holly and all the girls for another great evening.

Sue x

Madame JoJo's

This legendary club, founded a long time ago by Soho’s well-known entrepreneur, Paul Raymond, has been somewhere I have wanted to visit since first hearing about it probably in my late teens when a Sunday colour supplement carried an interview with Raymond, the then Madame JoJo and “the boys” (as they called them). I used to wonder if I could ever get a job there as an entertainer or waitress. Until now I never had any opportunity or excuse to go.

It’s only the second trans club I’ve been to in London, the other being the Way Out Club in the City. This is a dedicated venue and is much better. Not large but adequate, its décor is pleasanter, its stage show better and the crowd is more mixed with “normal” people visiting not just TGirls and Admirers, i.e. couples (straight and gay), groups of female/gay friends. In other words, it’s always been a place with a trans slant for anyone to hang out in, as I expected. The loos, however, are inadequate and not nice, and the bar is small and fairly pricey. Located on Brewer Street in the heart of Soho, it could not be more central. Website: http://www.madamejojos.com/ [Update 26/3/25: The site and the club have both closed down now.]

Yesterday (a Wednesday, which is Trannyshack night) I went with two friends – one transsexual and one straight male – and we enjoyed an evening of drinks and dancing, cabaret and chatting. The music is a little too loud for extended conversation, but not deafening as it is in, say, the clubs of Leeds.

The cabaret was not bad. Dusty O the compere introduced two new York girls, who were energetic and excellent, Holly Day (in blue) and I will remember the other’s name in due course. There were other numbers from Mitzi Mackintosh and our old friend Vanilla Lush who was celebrating eight years in the establishment. It was quite fun.

High-energy greetings from New York. These girls have fantastic legs.

Mitzi Mackintosh from Australia doing a mad rendition of Mame.

Vanilla Lush.

I’d go back. It’s a reasonable place to spend a couple of hours.

Sue x

Funny Girls photos

Thought I'd steal my friend's Funny Girls photos and post them here. Here are just a few items from their fabulous 2012 show that I wasn't able to include in my main entry below.

"The Sun has got his hat on". 

Terribly jolly, very cute and rather saucy, too. Must be the British seaside!

 "Welcome to the Sixties". Funny Girls' take on the Hairspray number. Amber, Jade, Krystal, Ruby, with Zoe the DJ and some of the Boys.

 Dancing on the bar top. Absolutely love those coloured stockings!

 The Boys (their names are Mark, Dan, Garry and Jack, though I've no idea who's who here!)

 Grand Finale

Grand Finale

It's worth going to Blackpool purely for this. The show may change part-way through the year, apparently. So you could go twice!

Sue x

Funny Girls

I’ve just spent a weekend away in Blackpool, admittedly in male mode (what? I’m on me ’olidays!)

So we booked to see Funny Girls, the famous drag cabaret. The booking office is part of the act, I reckon, hidden round the back with a daft-as-a-brush old lady manning the desk and a lift that entombs you in the dark and goes nowhere.

It was actually one of my female friends who had suggested it. I thought is would be a good chance to gauge their receptiveness to my telling them about how I spend most of my life these days. I was, however, a bit apprehensive about taking muggles to a drag show.

Still, in for a penny ... or £14.50 for table with waitress service. The compere herself, Zoe, showed us to our table. “Walk this way,” she said as she tottered into the venue. My one male friend rose to the occasion by saying, “I can’t walk that way!” Getting into the spirit from the start! Our pretty waitress in red minidress and fab legs brought us drinks. Stupidly, I forgot to ask her name.

The venue is beautiful. A converted late ’30s art deco cinema by Harry Weedon’s firm that built many such venues for Odeon (bear with me here, I’m from an arts and media family) and a Funny Girls carpet that must have cost a fortune. The bar is in front of the stage and the bartop becomes part of the stage during certain numbers. The tables are raised up at the back with the standing public between the tables and the bar. Zoe has a pulpit left of house.

Zoe, a classically acerbic drag DJ (but never abusive), in a wonderful turquoise dress and matching sparkly heels that one of my female companions really envied, was burbling on and playing records before introducing Amber, Jade, Ruby, Krystal and the Boys. The astonishing opening number was a high-energy Brazilian line up with blue sparkly swimsuits and feather headdresses for the girls. A break for Zoe to regale us, and then an American comedy marching band number; another break and then high-kicking gangsters and flappers; an obscene spoof of the lonely goat song from Sound of Music which we will not describe in detail as this is a family blogging site with blogs about pets and kiddies that are entirely innocent; next, seaside jollity (“Sun has got his hat on!”) with the lads getting their swimsuits off beneath their parasols, much to the delight of my female companions; Oklahoma/Gershwin medley; a ridiculous and hysterically mad take on Happy Feet, complete with penguin costumes. The amazing grand finale including Zoe (she wants you to know she’s in it) started with a pseudo-Sixties tribute (“Welcome to the Sixties” from Hairspray and the Austin Powers theme), the girls fabulous in sparkly red shift dresses. It then went on to powerful fantasy costumes and transformed almost to pure Ziegfeld Follies.

Absolutely stunning! Beautiful costumes, imaginative backdrops, quality choreography and very high production and presentation values. Over three hours of variety entertainment for your money (though the drinks cost a little above average). I think my companions were delighted but bemused. I shall return, properly en femme which will enable me to visit the various recommended venues round about. I didn't bring my camera but someone else did so I may be able to put a picture or two up before long. Here, however, is their official photo of the finale lineup

Here’s the [updated] link https://www.funnygirlsshow.co.uk/

By the way, I recommend Luna Rossa Italian restaurant down the road for a quick, tasty, good value meal beforehand.

As for me, although my two female companions have quite a good inkling about 'unofficial side' of my life from previous conversations, I did not feel my gentle 'coming out' worth pursuing with them further at this stage. This opportunity was ideal for judging what their reactions might be. They'd still be good friends, of course, but at this stage I'd rather have people firmly on board or kept in ignorance if they are a little conservative.

Sue x

Weekend visitors to London

Here’s a brief summary of my last fun weekend, in late March.

Saturday evening, after a day at work, I met up with my friend Wilhemina. Wilhelmina comes to the UK only occasionally as she lives on the continent but she is special to me as she was one of the girls I met during my first ever time out en femme.

We met up at the Way Out Club. Now, I’m not so sure that this is really the best place for girls to meet just for a chat. It took some hours for the club to fill. We mainly sat on the sofa but obviously that is not the thing to do as it is the main seduction area. The club seems to be principally a pick-up joint and I find it a bit sleazy. The stage show featured Vanilla Lush and Vicky Vivacious (whom regular readers will recall from our visit before Christmas). I quite like their act really. There was also a curious old lady doing an impromptu singing number as a French maid. Pourquoi? Oh well, it’s a night out; but, truthfully, if I wasn’t meeting friends there I wouldn’t choose to go there. I prefer a mainstream venue with less scruffy, leery types!

The next day I got to the West End in good time for refreshments in the Brasserie in Greek Street. I haven’t been there before but I realised that it is connected to La Roche, which is probably my favourite London café. It is now on my list of places to frequent. I had a Danish pastry and cappuccino with hazelnut as breakfast, both wonderful. I love my mid-morning coffee and have a weakness for cakes (more anon). Mind you, you’d forgive me if you saw the selection on offer …

At Melanie, the very pleasant Italian restaurant in Old Compton Street which was a fairly recent discovery, I was joined by Wilhelmina again, and by Stella, Amy, Petra, Kimberley, Ange and Johanna. Lunch was slow but I didn’t feel that was a problem – it’s Sunday afternoon, after all. The food is good, as is the wine, and I thought the prices reasonable. I’m sad, though, that our little Italian waitress has just been made redundant.

Kimberley, Stella, Petra and I went for a stroll in Covent Garden, did a bit of window shopping and eventually wound up in Patisserie Valerie near the Freemason’s Hall. My eyes are too big. Even after a three course lunch I couldn’t resist a slice of chocolate cake. It was HUGE, though. Too much! But, to punish my greed, the others made me eat it all. I felt quite wicked, but somehow strangely satisfied. I’m supposed to be on a quest to lose weight, but the will of the deranged genius known only as Le Pâtissier, whose miasma of chocolate fumes settled upon my pliant and innocent mind, bent my will to match his own. I obeyed. I consumed. I became … evil. I was an innocent caught in a web of indulgence that I could not escape. It was fate. It was entrapment. I succumbed to irresistible forces. Mmmmmmmmm …. Burp!

Sue x

Nottingham invaded again

I went to the Nottingham Invasion in January (see below) which turned out to be very good night out. So much so that I felt it was worth repeating. Unfortunately, because of unexpected work stuff which delayed me, I left London late and got stung for higher train fares, which was very annoying (and painful in the purse). However, I was pleased to be able to help out all sorts of visitors to London with directions and help in using ticket machines. Although that caused me to miss one train I was actually chuffed that nobody seemed to be put off asking a TGirl for help – I guess I’m more confident these days and try to look my best. Being addressed as “Madam”, “Miss”, “Darling”, “this lady” makes me happy.

I stayed at the New Gables hotel again, which is very good value, comfortable and friendly, and was where my friends were staying. I didn’t get there till 6.15 but at least all I had to do was change from my well-worn leggings into my new dress, lace tights and 5½ inch stilettos (killer heels had been agreed on beforehand). I hardly ever wear a dress – I’m more of a co-ordinates girl – whereas most of my friends come to these events in pretty ones so it was time to blend in!

Met up with Tiff, Mrs Tiff and Maddy all in their lovely posh frocks, Gayna in a smart blouse and skirt, and Joanne who had her fabulously best goth outfit yet, and we took a taxi to the New Foresters pub. Nice to catch up, albeit briefly, with Samantha and her partner Vicky, and with Sophie whom I hadn’t seen since Sparkle, as well as Tanya T and Marcia whom I’d met last time. I was glad to meet Lynn Jones for the first time as her comments on Facebook always crack me up and was introduced to Rachel Katie Sparkle. Spoke briefly to other girls, Emma, Jenny, well-endowed Alexia, but it’s had to remember all names.

Joanne, goth

Now you can’t hang around a pub all evening (can you?) so the Invasion was duly marched off to Oceana which does an entry deal for us girls. Truthfully, I don’t quite know what to make of this place. The gloopy carpet, the smell of decay, the malcoordinated noise and the violent dancefloor lighting strike me as being the ideal location for students of modern history to spend an evening: not only do they have fun with their mates but they get an appreciation of a night assault at Ypres with its slimy horrors underfoot, the stench of death, the deafening noise and the contorted bodies jerking in the flashes, like a whole battalion of fancy dress fusiliers caught on barbed wire. The girl going round offering you a shot doesn’t exactly contradict the image. Still, on the plus side, the ladies loos are nice as club loos go (but please put the seat down, girls), we get in cheap, we’re accepted by the staff (and at least some of the punters there) and you can have a bit of a giggle, especially as there’s a rivalry between the local hard men and the TGirls as to who can score highest on the punching machine. I suspect the hard men feel threatened by the TGirls – but let’s show that we’re ready to dish it out if necessary! An hour or so of Oceana is OK.

On to NG1 which has a pleasant bar area with competent staff, a wide range of drinks and comfortable seating where the music is merely background and you can hold a conversation. We were latched onto by a total whackpot who threw himself onto us “divas” in such an unselfconscious manner that I cannot help but record his presence. He tried out our shoes, preened and strutted (because that’s what we do, apparently), asked Mrs Tiff if she was a transvestite, declared his boyfriend had just walked out on him (we were surprised) but despite being insanely inconsolable he managed to fiddle with someone else in the gents before the evening was out. He said he was a mental health nurse. Evidently one who likes to take his work home with him. What a pest!

Fewer good photos from this event, sadly, but this is one of the odder ones. Gayna, Tiff, me, Maddy at NG1 bar. Photo taken by Joanne who wanted an interesting angle. Now, I've heard many excuses for being drunk ...

Now, sensible girls take coats and flats with them so they don’t have to stagger up and down the freezing streets in nothing but their frocks and stilettos. And they get a lot of stick for it from diehard trannies. But they have the last laugh as their friends stagger back to the pub with painful feet and goose pimples. Ha ha ha!

We fell in to the New Foresters again for chips, which are good and cheap there, and were entertained by the antics of a couple of drunk and menacing admirers. Quite a night for weirdo watching! And people say TGirls are strange! I'm also told the girls behind the bar dress just in knickers and fascinators because that's their outfit for the cabaret turn at the pub. Sure, but a missing skirt puts me off ordering a burger bun!

Anyway, it was good to catch up with friends. Sadly, I thought it best to leave the next day rather than trying to make a weekend of it. I missed breakfast as it takes me ages to put my face on, but that just goes with the territory. Despite the excesses I managed to fit into my skinny jeans for the journey home. (Actually, its being Nottingham and St Patrick’s Day I should’ve worn green tights to blend in!) Here’s a mystery, though. I took a case and a bag to Nottingham, but came back with everything fitting in just the case. Weird! But hey, weird is what we like. 

Thanks to fabulous Sam and lovely Maddy for organising, Maria and Debbie for being welcoming, Tiff, Mrs Tiff, Gayna and Joanne for being brilliant friends and all the other girls who make it a good evening, and to staff at the New Gables, New Foresters, Oceana and NG1 for being welcoming. 

Sue x

[Updated 16/7/18 to change a photo]

Well, it's one way of living

Here’s what happened last week, which I present as an example of my life these days. Admittedly, last week was a little bit more play than work (yayy!), so more interesting than average, but it seems fairly typical, both in terms of work-life balance and of male-female balance.

I should explain now that I work partly for myself, both at home and in a studio in central London, and also as a part-time employee in ‘creative retail’ (let’s call it that) two days a week. The latter necessary as I find it hard to work alone all the time so interacting with the rest of the human race is good, as is the regularity of employed income as opposed to the erratic income of a freelancer. I also have a good social life. As for male/female balance, I spend most of my time presenting as female but find it pragmatic to present as male for certain official purposes or where I am as yet known only as male. Yes, it’s a weird life, yet very diverse and satisfying in its own way. No two days are the same, which can be fun, although self-discipline is vital.

Monday, after some faffing around with work-related stuff at my desk at home (dealing with agencies drives me nuts!), I went up to town (male mode) and had lunch with two very good female friends, and then went on to work in the studio. I also had a further email update from a very lovely friend who is undergoing gender reassignment surgery in Thailand. She’s a brave and inspiring lady, and her emails are brilliant reading, both entertaining and thought-provoking.

Tuesday morning at my desk, then in the afternoon one of my closest trans friends came to stay, with her wonderful supportive wife. We went out to dinner in male mode at a local restaurant then joined my regular female friends at the local pub for a quiz night. Thanks to our special guests we triumphed and enjoyed winning some prize money, which was a rare treat! A lovely evening.

Wednesday was a girls’ outing to Covent Garden. We enjoyed coffee and cake at La Roche in St Martin’s Lane, one of my favourite cafés where the cakes are to die for, and then wandered around the Seven Dials area, dropping in to any shops that took our fancy. I bought a leather pencil skirt at Pop Boutique, one of the many retro clothing shops in the area. It’s a little too tight but I will slim into it (yes I will!). We had lunch at Belgo Centraal in Earlham Street, a Belgian restaurant with decent food and excellent beers in a cavernous basement where the staff are dressed as Trappist monks. We wandered to the main part of Covent Garden, enjoyed the Kurt Geiger shoe store and stuck our noses round the door of Charles Fox makeup shop, then bumped into Tom Jones in Tavistock Street. (Here for the BAFTAs presumably - dear me, he’s let himself go a bit, though! He was, however, too shy to be photographed with us superstar sex bombs!). I like bimbling around Covent Garden, though I was pretty tired by the end of the day.

Thursday was an employment day in male mode. Pretty quiet and not worth reporting on.

Friday, however, was busy as I had to go to central London to locate various items needed for work. This, however, was a long and pretty frustrating search which took up much of the day. After finally getting to the studio for a bit I joined two trans friends in the evening at Lounge 34 on Lower Marsh near Waterloo. Apparently, this is where TGirls meet in drab on the first Thursday of every month, perhaps appropriate as, unusually for a Friday, I was in drab too. After a quick drink there we went to an Italian restaurant, Olivelli, in The Cut nearby for dinner. I was persuaded to come out on Saturday night so left for home to pack a bag.

Saturday was a mixed day and perhaps more typical in the life of a TGirl. Employment in male mode today, but with my suitcase full of women’s clothes for the evening and the next day! That’s what it’s like. Had I had today off I would have gone to Nottingham again on Friday night for the brilliant Invasion as I did last month. Nevertheless, tonight’s entertainment was just as good.

So after work I went to my friend’s, had a bite to eat and glammed up for the evening. I think my skirt was too short even for a night out in Soho, but hey, I’ve got nice legs if I say so myself and I think I should show them off! We took the bus to the West End and went to Christopher’s in Wellington Street for a cocktail. It was nice perching on bar stools having perfect cocktails made very carefully by the excellent barman and enjoying the elegant mixed company. My sweet Manhattan was very strong so it’s perhaps fortunate that I have so many years experience of walking in very high heels and didn’t keel over! But that was enough booze for the night, I felt. Apparently Tom Jones was dining upstairs. Honestly, a girl like me just can't go out without being stalked by a megastar! The price of looking fabulous, eh?

After that we couldn’t find a club that didn’t seem to overcharge for entry (or require membership) but in the end we found Green Carnation in Greek Street. It was definitely gay in emphasis and we were the only two TGirls there, but the venue was nice, not too crowded, lots of sofas and enjoyable music to dance to. Inevitably, after nearly 18 hours on the go already, I started to flag so we didn’t stay out all that late. We were slightly amused by, if sorry for, a foreign lad in Piccadilly Circus who asked us if there was any club in central London where you could get in "for, like, zero pounds". Er, no! And so to bed via the lovely night bus which we just caught after a high-speed run in high heels down Haymarket.

Sunday, as you would expect, we got up late but, so what? it’s the weekend. Wore my favourite short heather blue tartan skirt, lilac sweater, my beloved Jane Norman jacket, thick black opaque tights against the cold and my lovely new grey Kurt Geiger ankle boots. I mention this because my friend has two female tenants who are so friendly and complimented me on my outfits. They're really lovely girls. We took the bus to Greenwich where we met our friend from Friday night at the welcoming San Miguel tapas restaurant in Greenwich Church Street and had a late lunch at an appropriately Spanish hour and pace. Sadly, you can’t have fun for ever so I returned home, battling the inevitable Sunday engineering works and travel disruptions with my enormous case in tow. You wouldn’t believe the tangle of suitcases and pushchairs on one of the buses! Thankfully none of the four stages of the journey home was too long and my cute new boots were nice and comfortable.

So, today’s Monday and we’re repeating the work cycle again. Maybe more fun is in store this week, too, but we shall have to see.

Sue x

Nottingham Invasion

There are several places where TGirls can have a really good night out and be accepted in the local community. Nottingham seems to be becoming one of them, especially because of a very active trans group there, Nottingham Chameleons. Last month saw the first Nottingham Invasion where some 35 TGirls descended on various venues in the city. This month witnessed the second invasion. I happened to have a free weekend and went to see what all the fuss was about.

Well, I was suitably impressed and thrilled by my evening. Samantha, whom I’d met before at one Leeds First Friday, and Maddy, a good friend, organised the event. They’re both beautiful, enthusiastic and very approachable girls and the whole event exuded fun and friendship. Apparently some 55 girls attended this time. This could become a very big thing!

The generals plan the Invasion. L to R: Debbie, Maddy and Sam.

I myself decided to make a weekend of it. I have close friends in Nottingham and Emma W’s wife Jackie is not far away so it was an opportunity to see them as well as catch up with many T girlfriends and make some new ones. I booked into the New Gables Hotel, a small, good value and nicely kept hotel run by Maria and Debbie who were very welcoming and friendly.

I chose to wear the leather mini I’d worn on the bar at Olympia in November with my favourite patent boots, silver top, Jane Norman jacket and neon tights. I met Maddy at the hotel along with Tanya W, Joanne D and Chrystal W. Nottingham’s trans community can be proud that Tanya was prepared to come all the way from Essex, Joanne from York, Chrystal from Durham, and myself from London. Chrystal probably gets the long-distance trannying prize on this occasion especially as she drove back that same night. There’s dedication to the cause!

We went to the New Foresters pub, also owned by Debbie and Maria, where we met up with the other invaders, including local girl Gayna, and Tiff and her brilliant wife Dawn who always comes out with us, all close friends. Both Gayna and Tiff were suffering physical ailments and were ribbed mercilessly about them on Facebook (which is our way of showing that we care) so it was to their credit that they came out. I was particularly keen to catch up with Samantha and Em Vicky. Em’s been a huge inspiration to many as her transition has had such positive support from her family and her employers. I hadn’t seen her for 18 months and she’s looking so gorgeous and is very sweet. Read Sam’s and Em’s worthwhile blogs through the links from mine [Update 18/8/20: Samantha and Em's blogs are no longer on my blogroll as readership is no longer open to the public]. I got to know a few other girls including Michelle, Penny and Tanya T. There were some lovely outfits, too. I love the way so many TGirls really make an effort to look their best.

 Girls having fun. New Foresters pub. L to R: Tanya, ?, me, Gayna, Maddy

Well, after eating, drinking and chatting at the New Foresters we went to the Oceana club. We’d been offered a special deal by the management who seemed very keen on us visiting. The place was a little empty to start with but filled up as the evening wore on. I’d say the place had a good dancefloor, reasonably priced drinks, decent ladies loos and space to move. I wasn’t so keen on the very sticky carpet and bartop or the very odd £1.80 fee for leaving a coat at the cloakroom. But it was worth visiting especially when they were keen to have us. Some girls were delighted by the punching machine and a few good whacks were given to it. God knows what that does to false nails!

So on to NG1, a club close by. I found the bar area very pleasing with attractive decor, plenty of seating and attentive staff. The dancefloor was less interesting, but considering I dance like a constipated chicken I’m not your best guide to such things.

The best thing was that a girl called Cristobel came up to me and said she was the Nottingham University trans officer and why were there so many TGirls out tonight. So I told her and pointed her in Sam’s direction. Looks like she could get the next invasion advertised at the university and swell the numbers. I also met a girl called Stacey who said this was her first night out and what luck it was that the T community was out in force.

NG1 club bar. L to R: Tiff, Christobel, Tanya T, Michelle. 

Like me and all TGirls, Tiff has a symbiotic relationship with her camera.

We finished the evening back at the New Foresters and ate chips and enjoyed ourselves till a disgustingly late hour before being herded out into taxis and back to the hotel.

All credit to the organisers for a fantastic night. I can’t do this every month but I will visit again in 2012. Keep an eye on this event, girls, it looks like it will be the next Big Night Out.

Sue x 

 

[Update 18/8/20: surnames have been removed from this post as some of the girls here have transitioned and want more anonymity.]

Lunching, and other depravities

   Well, what a fun weekend last weekend was. Anna came to stay for two nights and we had planned various outings in London. On Friday we started our day at the South Bank, firstly with a coffee at Vergnano’s by the Royal Festival Hall. They really do make the best coffee in London. However, I was irritated and surprised in such an upmarket establishment, that the woman before me in the ladies, who’d made some general remarks in my direction about there being too many gents cubicles and insufficient ladies cubicles, had peed all over the seat and not flushed either. And they say men are like that! They are nice loos, though, despite certain clients! I wonder if she did it deliberately as an anti-trans statement? I will assume she was just a dirty person.

   We strolled round the German-style Christmas market by the Millennium footbridges which is very pretty and merits a closer look when there’s more time. Then we walked to Soho to eat at Bistro 1 in Frith Street where I had booked a table. Our friends Irene and Helena joined us. The food was good as ever, and great value, and the wine was decent. Anna and I went with Irene to the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) on the Mall where the exhibition was, I’m sorry to say, the worst of pretentious modern art. Oh, well, at least we had a dose of culture!

   Irene left us and Anna and I went to Covent Garden to look at the market stalls – I get so much of my jewellery there. We also dropped into Charles Fox for makeup. Anna had never been to the Kurt Geiger shop on the corner of Covent Garden piazza and James Street, so we had to go in. She loved the mirrors and I loved the bargain pale grey ankle boots that I just had to buy. We were aiming for Oxford Street but I needed a rest so we stopped at Lick in Greek St for a cup of tea. The gorgeous-looking ice creams would have been tempting on a warmer day. Susan Sometimes texted me and she was, incredibly, at Cambridge Circus just round the corner so she met us there. Café Boheme, which Susan suggested, was quite full so instead we went to the downstairs bar at the Curzon cinema on Shaftesbury Avenue and ended up spending three hours there as it was so enjoyable just nattering and sipping strawberry cider, amaretto, winter warmer cider … perfect! Such a simple and relaxing day, yet we did a lot.

   On Saturday I had to work but we’d decided to go to the Way Out Club in the City of London that evening. Now, this is one of the few London trans clubs and, as I’ve never visited any, this was an Important Event, like I was now going to qualify for my tranny license at last!

   We got there quite early, about 10.45 p.m., so got in cheap and got our complimentary cocktail (which is, as Helena had warned, like orange squash with a tiny drop of vodka). Oh, well, never turn down a freebie! The bar staff are pretty efficient there, to be fair. Irene was there and later my friends Joanne and Michelle joined us. The club isn’t a patch on somewhere like Pink Punters, and the ‘admirers’ really are the scrapings of the barrel. Dear God! What a bunch of ugly, fat, scruffy, sad losers! The Thai and Filipino girls there do, however, put the rest of us to shame for their fabulous looks, and for their charity in talking to the ugly, sad, scruffy, fat losers! (though I suspect most of the ‘admirers’ have to pay for the attention). I quite enjoyed the floor show, Vicky Lee introducing her disabled nephew who made a good ‘sit-down’ comedian, and then two singers, Vicki Vivacious and Vanilla Lush. I thought they were quite good. And had fab legs, of course. It does all have an air of an am dram production, though. Anna and I sat around for a bit looking at outfits, watching spontaneous pole dancing girls and taking photos of each other (hey, we’re T-Girls, what do you expect). I’m glad I went and saw the place, but honestly the tranny clubs in Leeds, Manchester and Milton Keynes are much better.

   On Sunday, Anna and I went our separate ways home. Mid-afternoon, though, I went out again to the Cambridge pub on Cambridge Circus where Joanne had agreed to meet me and Michelle. I had a mulled wine, which was just nice on a cold day. We decided to choose a previously untried Soho restaurant at random and went to Piccolo Diavolo in Old Compton Street. The food was OK, but nothing special. The Italian chardonnay, another random choice, was surprisingly good, though. We finished with a warming Irish coffee in a pub just off Southampton Row.

  All in all, a very sociable and nice weekend.

   Many thanks to Anna, Irene, Helena, Susan, Joanne and Michelle for making it such good fun.

Sue x

Barmaids a go-go

London's annual Erotica exhibition at Olympia is a trade show for adult products and anything of related interest (including toffee vodka, wedding dresses, hairclips, designer furniture, wall insulation, home-made sausages ...). There is something of a party atmosphere there, the focus is on women, and visitors are encouraged to dress in something sexy and attractive. This year the organisers wanted to provide a more obvious focus for the LGBT communities, including a transgender bar. T-Girls across the UK jumped at the chance and, after some considerable organising by the very competent Andrea, 6 shifts over 3 days of 7-9 barmaids each plus a couple of glamorous hostesses had been arranged to assist the delightful supervisor Carol and her 3-4 regular bar staff.

 

Erotica T-Girl Bar first shift: left to right, Ria and Stella (hostesses), Mandy, Helena, Andrea (organiser), Amanda, Eve, Jackie, Holly (supervisor), and myself Sue.

After initial nerves and a steep learning curve we soon found ourselves competently pulling pints and chatting with the customers. It wasn't that busy on Friday 18th but on Saturday 19th we did a brisk trade before things quietened again on Sunday 20th. Being in the gallery rather than the main floor didn't help our trade but it seems that the customers were happy with our service. It was tiring and we weren't paid, not even expenses or tips, but it is a tribute to all those who volunteered that most worked over and above their scheduled hours. But what T-Girl can resist being seen and admired in cute outfit? (Yes, we had a uniform of white blouse, black skirt and black court shoes; only the accessories were personalised).

For day 1 I chose a black leather wraparound skirt and satin blouse, for day 2 a short satin skirt with underskirts that billowed out and (ooh la la!) revealed my stocking tops. (Incidentally, so few shops sell stockings these days - the tights revolution is near complete! Like most women, I wear tights all the time now anyway and it's only when there's an event like this that you notice the disappearance of stockings). The outfit on day 2 went down so well that I abandoned what I had previously reserved for day 3 and wore it again (yes, I did wash my blouse and change my stockings!). I found I had to wear high heels at the bar as it was so high that I'd have struggled to serve in flats. But, hey, high heels hold few terrors for me, though being on your feet for hours is the tiring bit no matter what you're wearing. A big thanks to my wonderful friend Angela for lending me both skirts.

Standing in the gallery of the magnificent Great Hall at Olympia in my favourite outfit.

Two friends came to stay with me, Holly and Joanne S, and together we had a great weekend. Obviously, we got a chance to see round the show (strutting down the red-carpeted staircase in our glad rags is something that needed doing more than once) and we were compensated by being given tickets to the Winter Ball on Saturday night. We enjoyed travelling there on the suburban train from home in our fancy outfits, me in my pink ballerina dress, pale pink tights and pink shoes! (pink handbag too), Holly in her very slinky revealing dress and Joanne very cute in her short lacy Goth outfit. Maybe pink frills stood out a bit in a club full of people chiefly in uniforms, black latex and suspenders but, hey, conformity in a club of nonconformists is just wrong!

The public were very enthusiastic about drinking at our bar and the compliments were very uplifting. Our best support came from two traders from the next door antiques fair who latched onto us outside and took Holly, Joanne, Stella, and me to an excellent Lebanese restaurant round the corner, Chez Marcelle. They forgot to give us plates but we were so hungry and the food was so good that we didn't notice! It also gave the kids at the next table something to gawp at!

What an extraordinary experience! Although we were all tired and our feet hurt I think we all agreed we'd be up for it next year. Carol, our supervisor, said we were a delight to work with (as was she and her team of regulars). Word is that the event organisers were so pleased with us that we're very likely to be invited again next year, only this time we'll be on the main floor which should boost our sales and profile.

And I think we're all agreed that, although not entirely a serious thing, the T-Girl bar showed that transgendered people are personable, reliable, hard-working, decent, friendly and humane, which was the whole point for many of us. I think a lot of people at the event left better informed about what being trans is like (it's not just about dressing up as some kind of fetish). And the main thing is that we all had fun (and got fat on the sausages being fried up opposite us). It was also a chance to make new friends. And when a team of people who hardly know each other work so well together you know that friendships are going to blossom.

I'd just like to say particular thanks to Joanne (who helped me with preparing an art show on the Monday), Holly for her strength and inspiration (she went on to go to work as a woman the next week), Stella for being glamorous and entertaining (and chauffeuring us), Helena for being the superstar of the alternative London scene (and for buying me a sweet little cake for my birthday), Andrea for organising us, Carol for supervising us and being lovely and thanks to all the other girls (and boy) there for making it one of the most memorable weekends ever, and the other traders, performers and visitors who were so supportive. 

Me and 'my' girls, Holly and Joanne. You'd buy a drink from these lovely ladies, wouldn't you?


Well, that was my first job as Sue. Maybe it'll help land me a permanent job somewhere!

Sue x