Back in the 80's and 90's (when I was in my 30's & 40's) I was a frequent visitor to The Gallery Cinema Club on the corner of Westgate Road and Blandford Street in Newcastle. Sadly, it is long gone - most of that area has been redeveloped. For the time, they used to show really hardcore films, all hetero, but with the clientele being virtually exclusively male there was an awful lot of gay action going on, as you can imagine. To set the scene, you entered from the street into the lobby/ticket office area. Most of the time it was a woman on the ticket desk - one was quite young and very attractive and the other a bit older (late 30's maybe) and plumper. Having paid your admission, a door then led straight into the cinema itself. This was a single room with about 8 rows of old cinema seats against the wall farthest from the entrance, about 8 or 10 seats to a row, an aisle down to the stage area below the projection screen running down from the entrance door side, and an open area at the back which led through to the toilets (male and female). The Gents toilets had a washbasin and single urinal and then a fairly large "proper" toilet through another door. The films changed twice per week and they had a stripper on every 2 hours some days (Monday, Wednesday & Friday, I think). There was always a rush for the front seats when they saw the stripper go through to the Ladies to get changed, as sometimes you could cop a feel or a suck of some tit. Very occasionally you might even get some "stinky finger" from the stripper. Most of the gay action took place in the back row of seats (but sometimes spilled over into the next row if it was busy), in the area behind the seats, or in the Gents. For most of this period I used to work shifts, so I would generally visit twice or more a week whilst my wife was at work during the daytime (it opened about 10:30 or 11, as I recall). Normally, I would wait a couple of minutes by the door after entering to let my eyes get accustomed to the darkness, to take in the smell of stale smoke and dried spunk (long before the smoking ban), and to scope out who was in and what action there was going on. Finding myself a seat in one of the two back rows, I would then size up who and what was on offer. Many times I would just enjoy getting my cock and balls out and having a leisurely wank whilst watching the films and observing the others. My visits normally lasted a couple of hours or more, and I would keep myself on the brink of cumming for as long as I could. More often than not, though, I would be there to "play". I had a couple of regular wank and suck buddies over the years, and if they were in I would always try to sit next to one of them. Otherwise, I would try and decide who had a nice-looking cock before sitting down as close to them as I could. Sometimes you had to wait a while before you could get seated next to your "target", but this just added to the anticipation of what was to come (or cum, LOL). It also allowed you to watch other pairs having a mutual wank or observe some oral, which I always found a turn-on. I guess I have something of the voyeur in me. There was a constant stream of people going to and from the Gents. Very often one of a pair of mutual wankers would head off there, to be closely followed by the other - what a surprise!! Once there, I'm sure they did the same as me when I went there, and both went through to the cubicle, where they could have a little privacy for some oral and/or anal action (I often did the oral, but have never fancied the anal, although I have observed it - even in the main cinema). The more adventurous of us, though, would indulge ourselves in our oral pleasures right there in the back row or in the space behind it. This was my favourite, because I loved performing for an audience and it had the added benefit of letting others with whom you had never "played" before know what you were up for. Of course this was the period when all the scary AIDS adverts were on the TV, in the newspapers, etc. and so I always played safe when giving and receiving oral by making sure I had a supply of condoms with me, normally the flavoured variety. It was a shame not to get to taste the spunk, but my health is a lot more important. I follow the same rules to this day. Like I say, I sadly miss The Gallery. There are now a couple of gay saunas in Newcastle and I have been to one of them once, but it was not the same as sitting in a seedy cinema watching porn - it seemed more of a "meat market" to me. These days I have to content myself with the occasional visit to Huddersfield (Empire X) or to one of the many Birmingham adult cinemas whenever I am in the area. Unfortunately, these opportunities are all too rare, although I do make the most of them when they do occur. I'm sorry if this is a bit tame by SH standards, but I'm hoping it will jog the memory of others who used to go to The Gallery. I'd love to hear about their experiences there. Anybody in the North East who can accomodate daytimes and fancies meeting up for some fun whilst watching porn can contact me through the site.