In the early '80s, a new wine bar opened in Swansea. The building it occupied was far from the usual drinking spots near The Kingsway but a local businesswoman named Julie Williamson decided to take the plunge, buy the tenancy and open her own pub. This was the unlikely birth of one of Swansea's most loved bars - Champers - that became the home of the city's gay scene.
"It certainly wasn't gay. It was just an ordinary pub. I never actually said it was a gay bar during the '80s at all. What it was - everybody was welcome as long as they respected everybody else," said Julie, who now owns First Call Coffee just a few doors down from where Champers once stood on the High Street.
"Straight people accepted that there were gay people there. Vice versa. They all got on very, very well. But of course, the eighties was really quite heavy going for people who were gay." You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
