The Coleherne public house was a gay pub in west London. Located at 261 Old Brompton Road, Earls Court, it was a popular landmark Leather bar during the 1970s and 1980s.
The Coleherne pub (named after Coleherne Road) began life in 1866, at Old Brompton Road in the heart of the west London Bohemian Quarter. It had a long history of attracting a bohemian clientele before becoming known as a gay pub. A life-long resident of Earls Court Square, Jennifer Ware, recollects as a child being taken there to Sunday lunch in the 1930s, when drag entertainers performed after lunch had finished. It became a gay pub in the mid-fifties.[1] Originally it was segregated into two bars, one for the straight crowd and one for the gay community at a time when homosexuality was illegal. In the 1970s it became a notorious Leather bar, with blacked-out windows, attracting an international crowd including Freddie Mercury, Kenny Everett, Rudolf Nureyev, and Anthony Perkins. Leather men wearing chaps and leather jackets with key chains and colour-coded handkerchiefs formed the clientele. The Coleherne was known internationally as a leather bar by 1965 [2] The gay community flourished in Earls Court and many international tourists joined the locals.
American author Armistead Maupin included references to the Coleherne in his Tales of the City book Babycakes. It is referred to in the lyrics of "Hanging Around" by The Stranglers.
It sought to lighten its image with a makeover in the mid-1990s to attract a wider clientele, but to no avail. In September 2008, it was purchased by Realpubs, underwent a major refurbishment and reopened as a gastro-pub, The Pembroke.[3][4]
Coleherne pub goers, angry at the politicisation of gay sex, lifestyle and position in society, by the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) pelted passing parade goers with bottles in 1972.[5]
It was infamous as the stalking ground for three separate serial killers from the 1970s to 1990s: Dennis Nilsen, Michael Lupo and Colin Ireland. Serial killer Colin Ireland began a series of five murders in 1993, as a New Year's resolution. Ireland, who claimed he was straight, picked up men at the Coleherne, whose colour coded handkerchiefs indicated that they were into sadomasochism and passive. Ireland took them home, restrained them and in five cases, killed them.