Pioneering cabaret drag bar owner set to retire

Basil Newby said it was the time to "bow out gracefully and retire"

One of Blackpool's most well-known figures on the nightclub scene who became a pioneering cabaret drag bar owner has revealed he is to retire.

Basil Newby has been a major business leader in the town's nightlife scene for more than 45 years, first opening the town's Flamingo Club in 1979.

He went on to open Funny Girls in 1994 and received an MBE in the Queen's New Year Honours list in 2014 for services to business and the lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender community.

But as he now approaches his 75th birthday, Mr Newby said: "After a lot of soul-searching and sleepless nights, I know now is the time for me to bow out gracefully and retire".

"I want to see the Redwood Forests in California, the Northern Lights and many more things before I'm too old," he said.

"Close family members have health problems and I need to spend more quality time with them so it really is right for me."

Basil Newby opened pioneering cabaret drag bar Funny Girls in 1994

He said it was also a "joint decision" with Ian, his partner of more than 40 years.

"Although I still love Funny Girls, it needs new blood to take it forward for another 30 years," he said.

He said "nothing will change for the next few months" and "it could be three months or even three years before the right person comes along that I feel is the one I trust to take it on".

Mr Newby opened the Flamingo on Talbot Road as Blackpool's first gay club in 1979. It was demolished in 2007 but Funny Girls, in the former Odeon building on Dickson Road, is still going strong and marked its 30th anniversary last year.

Mr Newby said he wanted Funny Girls "to be for everyone, no matter what colour, creed or sexuality"

He said he was partly inspired to open it to make a protest against Section 28 - a law passed in 1988 by Margaret Thatcher's government, which banned councils and schools from "promoting homosexuality".

"At that time I was going for licensing and getting knocked back," Mr Newby said.

"Eventually I went to the courts and got one, and I got this idea for Funny Girls in my head.

"I wanted it to be for everyone, no matter what colour, creed or sexuality."

He said he is "still passionate about Funny Girls and I'll only sell it to the right people, I just love the place".

He added: "I've dedicated my life to the gay community and loved every minute of it,' he added. "But I know it's just the right time to call it a day."