A hidden street in Liverpool has been home to some of the city’s most historic clubs.
Cumberland Street, situated in the heart of the city’s Pride Quarter, is often overlooked by bypassers as it can be easily mistaken for a badly lit alleyway - especially at night.
The street currently has two businesses operating within it - LGBTQ+ venues The Poste House and The Masquerdade Bar - but has seen many others come and go including Lomax, Roxie’s, Angels, Out, and Profile amongst others.
READ MORE: LGBTQ+ bar owners plea for 'filthy' street that looks like an alleyway
The businesses left standing however have recently created a petition asking Liverpool City Council to give their street “the much-needed revamp it deserves”. They claim despite businesses coming and going, one thing has remained consistent and that is how “ragged” the street on their doorstep looks.
The petition is asking the council to “take a look” at the street which contains so much history and fame - with it having welcomed the likes of Oasis, The Beatles, Rylan Clark, Gogglebox’s Jenny and Lee and Chrissy Rock to name a few.
Here we take a look at how Cumberland Street has changed over the years in light of the recent call for action.
The Poste House
Known more affectionately as The Postie, the spot is one of the many backstreet boozers dotted throughout the city.
The intimate venue is set over two floors and is completed with a charming interior, pubby décor and furnishings including stained glass windows. It is said to be one of the oldest LGBTQ+-friendly establishments the city has to offer with it being built in 1820.
For more than 200 years, a range of questionable clientele has found themselves within its nook and crannies tucked away down the discreet alley connecting Dale Street and Victoria Street.
The pub supposedly served the likes of Jack The Ripper suspect James Maybrick and singer Bob Dylan. Another hearsay about the venue is it's haunted.
The venue's target audience has changed over the years from local scouse traditionalists to a younger more flamboyant crowd. That’s not to say a more mature tribe can’t be found downstairs enjoying a gin and tonic, however, upstairs is a popular choice amongst the LGBTQ+ community, no doubt for its “cheap-as-chips” drinks and contagious atmosphere.
Back in 2001, it looked as if the Georgian ale house was to be no more after big-name property developers wished to turn Cumberland Street into flats and apartments. According to the developers, the pub wouldn't fit into their plans and therefore had to go.
A petition opposing the plans was signed by more than 700 people and 50 individual letters of objection were also presented to the council from people wanting the pub, which was then locally known as The Muck Midden, to stay.
Since then The Poste House has become a go-to spot for many of the LGBTQ+ community.
The Masquerade Bar
The Masquerade Bar is a stable in any LGBTQ+ venue-based pub crawl.
The bar comes complete with drag queens, DJs, karaoke and cabaret acts so it’s easy to see how it has been a firm fixture on the street for nearly three decades.
The original Masquerade, located near Clayton Square on Cases Street, had been one of the city’s first gay bars until it closed its doors in the 1980s. When the original Masquerade closed, the new venue on Cumberland Street was opened and named in its honour.
At an unofficial Pride in Liverpool in 1995, rain caused the majority of the attendees to seek cover in closeby pubs including The Masquerade Bar. According to Pulse Magazine, there “was standing room only, cheek to cheek as it were, as everyone tried to continue the day out, on the inside.”
The venue has worked since then to earn the title of "Liverpool's friendliest gay bar".
Lomax
The lost Liverpool nightclub, Lomax, was loved in the 90s and 00s. The venue opened in 1993 and during its time, some of the UK’s biggest bands played gigs there including Radiohead. The music venue also hosted Top Of The Pops and was where pop group Atomic Kitten began.
Many music fans will remember paying only £3 to see Oasis perform at the legendary spot.
The then-young up-and-coming band from Manchester played at the venue just months before they went stratospheric.
The gig took place 10 days before their debut single, Supersonic, hit the top 40 and just three months before their first big hit, Shakermaker, reached number 11 in the UK charts.
The Lomax moved from its original Cumberland Street building in 2000 to share the bigger venue it spawned, the L2 in Hotham Street. Following the closure of the L2 in 2002, which went on to become the O2 Academy, a new version of the Lomax reopened back on Cumberland Street with new owners.
OUT!
OUT! didn’t make it past its second anniversary but is fondly remembered as one of the most colourful clubs to grace the city.
The safe space which welcomed those from all walks of life opened in July 2018. Spread across three floors, the venue featured a showroom, multiple dance floors and bars, and a games room and was described as a venue “thrown up from Katy Perry’s California Girls video”.
Dotted around the venue were references instantly recognisable to any true RuPaul’s Drag Race fan.
The bar joined the likes of Fusion, Level, SoHo, and McCooley’s as part of the Pub Invest Group and after customers were finished in OUT! they were guaranteed free entry to its sister club, Heaven, just a stone's throw away on Victoria Street.
When it initially opened, general manager, Ryan Fanthorpe told the ECHO he wanted it to be a “gay McCooley’s.
The short-lived club, which was on the site of the former Lomax club, closed its doors for the final time in August 2019 after operating for less than two years.
Azzuro Penderghast, one of the club's resident performers and DJs, previously told the ECHO: “It was a visual colourful spectacle overflowing with opulence and drama. A club which became a hidden gem of a safe space for many queer peoples in Liverpool. The ones who know, know. It was full of life and it was new. Feeding off the root of the iconic club that was there before, it quenched a drag race thirst we all had.”
Angels Paradise
Angels Paradise was a strip club in the middle of Liverpool which claimed to offer the “UK’s sexiest dancers” and the “hottest, steamiest cabaret in town”.
The gentleman’s club opened from Thursday to Sunday and was a popular choice with Stag Dos with the option of a minivan to pick groups up being available. The bar offered group packages as well as more intimate sessions with it hosting several private booths to enjoy one of the dances.
The Cumberland Street site closed after Angels Paradise moved to Princes Street.
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