Lucy's Bar and Lucy's Two (closed)

Before the Flamingo

When Basil Newby was planning his first venture in the 1970s, Blackpool had only a couple of gay bars, and Lucy's was one of them. That puts Lucy's among the very earliest openly gay venues in the town, older than the Flamingo and from a time when running a gay bar took real courage.

Lucy's Two on Abingdon Street

By the 2000s the bar was trading as Lucy's Two at 68–70 Abingdon Street, in the town centre, having earlier been known simply as Lucy's Bar. It stood out because it mainly catered to women at a time when most of the scene was aimed at gay men. It was also dog-friendly, which says a lot about the relaxed, local feel of the place.

What became of it

The premises changed names around the end of the 2000s, and the address is now home to the Galleon Bar, a live-music pub that is not a gay venue.

Lesbian and women's spaces are one of the least recorded parts of Blackpool's queer history. If you drank at Lucy's or Lucy's Two, your memories are exactly what local heritage projects are hoping to collect.