Vanessa Aarons says the bar could be a place for people to meet in real life – rather than being online the whole time

THE derelict basement of a betting shop in York Way could become the first lesbian wine bar in the borough of Camden.

While Zodiac Bar and the Black Cap are beloved LGBTQ+ institutions, Camden doesn’t have any venues specifically for sapphic people, and even across London there are only a handful of such spaces, with historic clubs such as The Gateways in Chelsea and the Candy Bar in Soho long gone.

But that could be set to change, pending a decision by the Town Hall to grant planning permission to turn an empty basement beneath a branch of William Hill into Violets, a “sapphic-focused wine bar and tasting lounge”.

Violets founder Vanessa Aarons is a lawyer who grew up in Hampstead and has owned the York Way building since her father passed away in 2019. She had mulled over the idea of creating a lesbian wine bar there for several years before deciding to go for it.

“It feels like there’s a crying need for more spaces like this, and it got to the point where I had such a clear vision and was so enthusiastic about it that I had to take the plunge,” she told the New Journal.

“Meeting people in real life – not just online – and being connected with a community is something I really crave.

“There are a lot of community groups online, and rotating pop-up nights, but you really have to follow socials to know where and when they are going to be, and not everyone wants to do that. And they’re not permanent spaces where a regular community can develop.

“That’s the reason I like the location as well – it feels like a neighbourhood bar, but it’s still central enough that people can get there from other parts of London.”

Violets would be below this branch of William Hill in York Way

The stop-start, roaming nature of London’s sapphic scene is perhaps a reflection of how many queer venues have been shuttered over the past 20 years. In 2024, Greater London Authority data showed that more than half of the city’s LGBTQ+ nightlife spaces closed between 2006 and 2022.

Violets uses “sapphic” as an inclusive umbrella term, that encompasses lesbian, bisexual and queer women, as well as non-binary and trans people who identify with the term.

As well as a wine bar in the evening – dimly lit, softly furnished and with “enough exposed brick as building control allows” – Violets will be a co-working space during the day, and could also host events like sapphic book clubs, wine tasting and poetry nights.

Ms Aarons added: “The idea is that it’s not just a wine bar, but a community space.”