Muriel Belcher

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Muriel Belcher was the founder and proprietress of a private drinking club known as the Colony Room (also known as Muriel's) at 41 Dean Street, Soho, London.

[edit] The Colony Room

Belcher, who had previously run a club called "The Music-box" in Leicester Square during the World War II had managed to secured a 3 AM to 11 PM drinking licence for the Colony Room bar as a private-members club (public houses had to close at 2:30 PM). The painter Francis Bacon was a founding member, walking in the day after it opened in 1948. He was "adopted" by Belcher as a "daughter" and was allowed free drinks and £10 a week to bring in friends and rich patrons.

The Museum of London website says of the Colony Room, "The Colony Room was one of many drinking clubs in Soho. The autocratic and temperamental owner Muriel Belcher created an ambiance, which suited those who thought of themselves as misfits or outsiders."

The room had a certain notoriety for its decor as well as its clientele; its bilious green walls were as famous as the club itself. In addition to its vile colour, the staircase that led to the club was described as foul-smelling and flanked by dustbins.

The "Room" operated between 1948 and her death in 1979. A lesbian, she was considered by many to be foul-mouthed. One of her former customers remembered her as a "handsome, Jewish dyke"; another, George Melly said of her, "Muriel was a benevolent witch, who managed to draw in all London's talent up those filthy stairs. She was like a great cook, working with the ingredients of people and drink. And she loved money."

Her sexuality attracted many gay men to the club, many of them being brought to the club by her Jamaican girlfriend, Carmel. She had an intuition that lead her to attract or discover interesting and colourful people. The patronage of men like Melly and Bacon helped to establish the Colony's close-knit community. One of Bacon's friends, Lady Rose McLaren was a habitueé of the club in her London days.

Belcher was famous if not synonymous for her rudeness, a trait which rubbed off onto the club and became part of its culture; with lesbian forthrightness her favourite word was "cunt"; this she delivered in her distinctive and ringing tones. According to Muriel the word cunt was a term of abuse, however, "Cunty" was a term of affection. The ulitmate accolade and term of acceptance was if she called you "Mary".

In line with the homosexual atmosphere of the club, men would often be referred to in the feminine. Melly has remarked: "Muriel made everything sound good, even when it wasn't exactly a Wildean epigram. She was camp, and the very delivery of camp makes your sentences sound witty." As a result, The Colony thus became a kind of anti-Cheers, where everyone would probably have known your name, but would ignore this and instead refer to you as "cunty."

After Belcher's death, the club continued under the stewardship of her long-term barman Ian Board, known as Ida, until his death in 1994; it in turn passed on to his veteran barman Michael Wojas, who recently celebrated his silver jubilee at the club. Board and Wojas have ensured that the Colony Room today is as popular as ever with artists of all sorts, and in particular of late, those who have come to be known as Young British Artists (YBAs), including Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas and Tracy Emin.