The Glory, east London (closed 2024)
In a packed pub, revellers chat, sip lager and look at their phones. Suddenly a side door crashes open, and in walks drag sensation John Sizzle, dressed as a hair-raisingly accurate Diana, Princess of Wales. She saunters demurely to a halo, fashioned from tinsel and coat hangers and stuck to the wall, stands under it, and starts lip-syncing to Beyoncé’s Halo. The crowd erupts.
Just a regular Tuesday night at the Glory, the Haggerston pub that had a decade of debauchery from 2014 to 2024. I worked at a nightlife magazine at the time and was there for most of it. I loved the fact that it offered an alternative to the ripple-muscled mainstream of London gay clubbing. Nothing wrong with rippled muscles of course, but sometimes you just want …
The Glory, east London (closed 2024)
In a packed pub, revellers chat, sip lager and look at their phones. Suddenly a side door crashes open, and in walks drag sensation John Sizzle, dressed as a hair-raisingly accurate Diana, Princess of Wales. She saunters demurely to a halo, fashioned from tinsel and coat hangers and stuck to the wall, stands under it, and starts lip-syncing to Beyoncé’s Halo. The crowd erupts.
Just a regular Tuesday night at the Glory, the Haggerston pub that had a decade of debauchery from 2014 to 2024. I worked at a nightlife magazine at the time and was there for most of it. I loved the fact that it offered an alternative to the ripple-muscled mainstream of London gay clubbing. Nothing wrong with rippled muscles of course, but sometimes you just want something a bit more inventive – like the saucy Spanish-inspired night “Gayzpacho” (underwear-wrestling in a passata-filled paddling pool, anyone?).
I was there when they randomly decided to paper the pub’s entire exterior in gold foil. I was there for groundbreaking drag contest Lipsync1000, where many of the UK’s most infamous queens began, including Drag Race UK star Bimini Bon Boulash. I was there when they served microwaved pasta in that bizarre period during Covid when licensed venues could only open if they served food. They charged £1 per meal and called it “Diana’s Delish Dish”. I wasn’t there for the New Year’s Eve party when Chelsea Clinton showed up – I’ve kicked myself ever since.
You didn’t stand out if you wore outlandish clothes or acted strangely at the Glory. You stood out if you didn’t*.* Straight couples occasionally dropped in by accident, or were dragged along by gay friends, and they too were welcomed with open arms, if perhaps some gentle teasing of sensible jumpers or footwear.
As with any pub, it had some nefarious characters. It taught me that just because someone’s wearing a sparkly sarong and a jaunty red beret, they shouldn’t necessarily be trusted. Often, it’s exactly the opposite. The east London queer scene is one of the most competitive and well-connected in the world, and comes with its share of shrewd, cutthroat manipulators. But with lovely shoes.
Above all, the Glory made me ready for *life. *Its colourful cast of punters and performers always kept me on my toes. Compared with most of the things that went on in its basement after midnight, life’s trials and challenges have paled in comparison. And being unshockable, particularly in our current climate, is indispensable.