City's LGBTQ+ scene set for its biggest revival since the 1990s

FORMER GAY TIMES REPORTER SAYS RAINBOW QUARTER WILL PUT CITY BACK ON THE MAP

- By GEORGE PALMER-SOADY

STUART Linden Rhodes remembers a time when Nottingham's gay scene was "neck and neck" with the likes of Birmingham and Manchester.

A roving reporter for the Gay Times magazine during the 1990s, Mr Rhodes often spent his weekends driving up and down the country to capture the vibrant LGBTQ+ scenes emerging in cities in the North and the Midlands.

While working as a teacher at a further education college in Yorkshire during the week, the Harrogate-born reporter often found himself in Nottingham on Friday and Saturday nights for his "Out and About with Linden" column.

Regularly visiting and reviewing Nottingham's gay pubs, clubs and events, Mr Rhodes captured the vibrancy and colour of the city's LGBTQ+ community during the 90s.

Now 68, the photographer remembers the time "people came out of the closet and into the streets" like it was yesterday.

"Nottingham was a really vibrant scene and it was neck and neck with Birmingham - there was so much going on," he said. "The sheer number of venues across the city and the big all-night events every month, it was fantastic. A lot of that history has disappeared and those pubs and clubs are no longer there.