Comptons of Soho

Long before Soho became known as the gay village, long before the Village Bar or the Admiral Duncan or Balans or even Clone Zone, there was Compton’s. An old-fashioned gay club that used to have blacked-out windows and sawdust on the floor, the venue has changed with the times and now has two floors, clear-glass windows and far nicer toilets. Compton’s is still popular with a crowd of beer-drinking, blokey gay men and is pretty cruisey. The upstairs lounge has flock wallpaper and a chandelier – a good place for a date or conversations – but the main floor is louder, darker and clubbier, and tends to be where the action is.