When Camden Lesbian Centre opened its doors on Saturday 31st October 1987, it signalled the arrival of more than just a queer social venue – the Centre quickly became home […]
Category: From the Archives
NMRD Programme of the Month: October 2021
It’s the month of Halloween and as roller derby has always demonstrated, there is plenty of creativity and fun to be had in this sport whether a player or a spectator. This programme takes on a popular and classic scary movie pun – a movie so popular on its release in 1976, there was a remake in 2013. The infamous scene in which pigs blood is thrown over the titular Carrie is iconic and is illustrated in the blood spatters on the cover of this bout programme
Camden Lesbian Centre and Black Lesbian Group: Building the UK’s first lesbian centre
Put the kettle on, will you? We’ve a group of tired women here in paint-splattered overalls, all in dire need of a cuppa! In our previous blog on Camden Lesbian […]
NMRD Programme of the month: September 2021
This is a programme dated from the 26th June 2010, for a double header between Glasgow and Edinburgh. The Central Belter refers to Glasgow and Edinburgh which both lie on the central belt of Scotland and, of course, ‘belter’ is Scottish (and British) colloquialism for amazing, outstanding, and thrilling. This play on words is common throughout roller derby and their artwork, posters, and programmes.
NMRD Programme of the Month: August 2021
This programme showcases a bout between Auld Reekie Roller Derby’s Twisted Thistles and Glasgow Roller Derby’s Irn Bruisers from approximately a decade ago. The artwork illustrates the grassroots spirit of roller derby as most artwork for bout programmes is done by someone within the local roller derby community. The seductive nature of the two women present in the programme cover also help to show a typically archaic sentiment that was once attached to the sport. Sexy and tough was an aesthetic trope adopted by the roller derby girls but has since waned as the sport has become more professional and representatively inclusive.
SPRAY IT LOUD: Feminist culture jamming in the 1980s
If you’d have passed through the East End of Glasgow last month, here’s what you might’ve seen: a naked woman made of stone, crouched on a plinth, her face covered […]
Feminist housing activism in the 1970s-1980s, #3: Community organising and mutual aid
Please note: this post refers indirectly to police brutality and institutional racism & classism. Over the last eighteen months, many of us have gotten involved with community organising – some […]
Feminist housing activism in the 1970s-1980s, #2: Building it ourselves, building it together
This is the second post in a three-part blog exploring the history of feminist housing activism in the 1970s and 1980s. Following on from yesterday’s post on the feminist squatting […]
Feminist housing activism in the 1970s-1980s, #1: Making space for feminist infrastructures
Where are you reading this blog? Are you on the move, commuting to work or school? Perhaps you’re in a public space like a park or a café. Me, I’m […]
Camden Lesbian Centre and Black Lesbian Group: The fight for a home
Tucked down a narrow, leafy street on the edge of Camden, just behind the hustle and bustle of London Euston and King’s Cross St Pancras stations, is the former site of the UK’s only dedicated lesbian centre. It doesn’t bear the usual markers of a heritage site – no commemorative plaques, no signage, not a QR code in sight – but for nearly a decade, 54-56 Phoenix Road was home to Camden Lesbian Centre and Black Lesbian Group (CLC&BLG).