London June 2002

It had been ages since I had done the London clubs so when Elin suggested we go down there again I readily agreed. So on June 8th I organised our usual lodgings, just down the road from Doreen fashions in Leyton. As I arrived early I treated myself to a visit to Doreens where, as usual, the girls treated me very well fetching all manner of outfits for me to try on.
Me in the new dress I could easily have come away with five or six but in the end managed to limit myself to a copy of the Tranny Guide (much to my suprise I can be found in quite a number of pictures contained with in!) and three new dresses. The first was a very short, sleeveless polo necked dress in black. The second was a slightly longer dress, high necked but open black in black and white.The third was a knee length, spaghetti strap dress in white with red and black flowers on - ideal for summer.
SarahI arrived back at the hotel and was joined there by Elin. After a quick meal we were joined by Sarah and we then started to get ousrselves ready for the evening. My original intention had been to wear a white camisole top and denim skirt combination but a minor mishap with foundation left the white top unwearable. Thank heavens for my shopping trip! The new white dress with red flowers made it's debut instead.As is traditional, once dressed we grabbed a few quick pictures before our taxi arrived and it was time to head to the clubs.

Thanks to BJ for this picOur first stop was the new Stormes event run by Andrea at the Black Horse on the Mile End Road. This is replacement venue for the much missed Stepneys is rather less easy to find than the old club and we were glad we'd opted for a taxi as parking seemed a little more challenging too. As in the old Stormes, Andrea greeted us at the door and made us feel welcome.
Jo and KimAnd I was pleased to see a few of the Angels there, including Joanna Angel and Kim Angel - no relation ! BJ and Marg had also just arrived so we sat down for a drink and a chat. And we took a few pictures too! As we had arrived quite early, the club (which is perhaps half the size of the previous venue) wasnt very full. Yet despite this it did seem rather load and smokey (made the pictures a bit blurry I found) and we conversation was a little difficult. And much to mine and Elin's chagrin, the dance floor was tiny, crowded with only 5 or so people on it and really didnt appeal to us.
So it was that Sarah, Elin and I decided to follow our plan and move.

Downstair in Ronstormes.comOur next stop was RonStormes.com which at that time was a new club that had opened in the City of London area, just of Cheapside.The club had carried discreteness a little far and we did struggle at first to work out where it was. But in the end we found the entrance and were greeted by the host, Peter White, and his two TV hostesses.
First impressions of the venue were good - a nice quiet seating area on same floor as the entrance floor looked an ideal place for a chat, even if it was a little deserted. Indeed the staff out numbered the clientelle.
We then descended to the lower level bar and dance area. Again, a pleasant enough area if unusually brightly lit! Still that did make pictures easier. But the main point of concern was there was no-one else in there - it was completely deserted! It occured to us that perhaps the World Cup Soccer was keeping people at home this weekend.
Sarah Elin and I were determined that, after our missed chance at Stormes, we were not going to lose out on a dance so we took to the floor on our own for a few numbers whilst Sarah sat in the bar area. There were at least some nice mirrors around the dance floor which allowed us to check out our dance technique!
We joined up with Sarah for a drink and a cooling off session and I prevailed upon Elin to take a few snaps of me (bless her).
Me at the downstairs barBy this time a small number of additional girls had arrived at the club so we didn't feel quite so lonely though only one of them joined us on the dance floor when we set off again. On our return we found Sarah chatting to a couple of girls that we had previously met in Manchester. They were heading off to the WayOut and kindly offered us a lift so, as the club didnt seem to be getting any livelier as it headed towards closing time we gratefully accepted.

The WayOut, though less packed than on previous trips was much more what we have come to expect from a night out in London. A lively crowd, the usual mix of TVs, TSs RGs and guys. That nights cabaret began shortly after we arrived. This was a version of 'The Weakest Link' re-christened 'The Weakest Kink' and hosted by Pandora De Pledge. Sadly, the standard of contestant was woeful with even the simplest questions being answered incorrectly - that might have been OK a few times but it got a little wearing. Eventually the show finished and the music commenced once more - rather too hard core dance for my taste I fear and my choice of stiletto sandals didn't lend them selves to prolonged dancing so I sat much of the time out, though one young chap seemed to feel I was wasting an opportunity and tried to convince me to get back on the dance floor.
We left the club around 3:30am arriving back at the hotel at 4:15 and, after the night porter let us in (and I'm told had a good look at us), we retired to our beds.
Reflecting on the night out our main conclusions were that the WayOut was much the same as ever, that RonStormes.com had a lovely venue but no atmosphere and that Andrea's new venue wasn't as nice as the old Stormes at Stepneys.
But for me it had still been a night out enfemme in good company and that was the most important thing!

Manchester in May June Picnic 2002

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