|
|
Vauxhall is an inner city area of South London in the London Borough of Lambeth. It has also given its name to the Vauxhall Parliamentary Constituency, which also includes large swathes of Brixton and Clapham Since 1998, the geographical confusion has increased as Vauxhall is now part of the borough's North Lambeth town centre, for administrative purposes. 
Vauxhall is home to an ever-increasing number of gay bars and nightclubs, such as Factory, Crash, Area, Orange (Fire), Megawoof, Barcode, The Hoist, South Central and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, as well as other venues often holding special events for gay clubbers, such as Hidden, Club Colosseum and Renaissance Rooms. The aforementioned Royal Vauxhall Tavern dates back to at least the late 1800s, and was for many years a traditional English music hall and cabaret venue. In recent years the building has come under constant threat of buyout and demolition from property developers, as it stands alone on a prime piece of grassland adjacent to Vauxhall railway station. However, the pub was bought in 2004 by sympathetic owners who have announced, "business as usual". Vauxhall was originally the home of the more underground gay clubs with the arrival of Crash in the 1990s. Over the years, more clubs and gay businesses have followed Crash's lead by opening up in the railway arches underneath the main line out of Waterloo Station. The burgeoning club scene and the lure of the more trendy railway arches have made Vauxhall a prime destination for businesses to open up in, including London's only exclusively gay gym (Paris Gym), another branch of Chariots (gay sauna) and Barcode (sister bar venue of the same name in Soho). Another Soho based gay bar, Village Soho, has announced that it also intends to open a Vauxhall venue sometime in late 2007. The area is fast earning the nickname "Vauxhall Gay Village". Vauxhall has also become colloquially known as "Voho" (a consolidation of the names Vauxhall and Soho) within the gay community, due to the emergence of Vauxhall as a gay village after Soho, London's other main gay village in Westminster. 
|
| ||
