Under railway arch in Hackney’s Bohemia Place, you'll find London's first community-owned queer pub and performance space. The Joiners Heart is a new LGBTQ+ venue that channels the spirit of an old one: The Joiners Arms, a raucous Shoreditch nightspot forced to shut in 2015 after being snapped up by property developers. Before it closed, everyone from Ian McKellen to Alexander McQueen would prop up the bar at this rough-and-ready pub/club, which was once branded “Britain's trendiest gay dive”. It was even immortalised in a Bloc Party song.
“This has been more than a ten-year journey," noted Amy Roberts, chair of Friends of the Joiners Arms (FOTJA), when The Joiners Heart opened recently. Initially, the FOTJA campaign group lobbied to prevent the original Joiners Arms from being turned into posh flats; then, when it became clear they were fighting a losing battle, they shifted focus to finding and funding a new queer venue. Sam Whelan-Curtin, a FOTJA member who now sits on The Joiners Heart management committee, tells Broadsheet that “one of the big priorities was creating a space for people who don't always feel catered to by other [queer] spaces”. It's owned by more than 2000 shareholders, who run it on a not-for-profit basis on behalf of the entire community.
For this reason, The Joiners Heart has been designed with full accessibility in mind. It's wide and uncluttered, all on one level, and the bar area is deep enough to accommodate staff who use wheelchairs. Whelan-Curtin says plans are now underway to install an accessible modular stage at the back; this will be put out and taken away depending on how the venue is being used that evening. “People were waiting for this space for long enough, so we wanted to open it at this stage, and then do more work to finish it off,” Whelan-Curtin says. “Though in a way, I don't think it will ever truly be finished. The Joiners Heart will just keep shifting and changing to meet people's needs.”
The Joiners Heart is open on Fridays and Saturdays, from 5pm to 1am. When Broadsheet drops by at 5.30pm on a crisp October Friday, it’s already filling up with groups socialising and crafting to a killer soundtrack of Hole, Tracy Chapman and Siouxsie and the Banshees. But, in time, the plan is to expand its remit gradually so that it eventually becomes a daily operation. With high ceilings and a flexible layout, the space can host everything from queer craft fairs to karaoke nights. They've already welcomed Hackney Women's Football Club, Europe's oldest openly queer team, who were regulars at The Joiners Arms. “When the girls walked in, they were like, ‘This feels like our spot now,’” Whelan-Curtin says proudly.
Lining the walls are nostalgic photos of revellers drinking, dancing and kissing at The Joiners Arms – a stirring reminder of its queer lineage and the sheer resilience of the FOTJA campaigners. The new venue is brighter and airier than its memorably seedy predecessor, but it still feels like somewhere that will spark all manner of queer mayhem. The Joiners Arms is gone, though not forgotten; long live The Joiners Heart.
The Joiners Heart
18 Bohemia Place, E8 1DU
Hours:
Fri & Sat 5pm–1am
