Words: Tom Ward
Groucho Marx famously declared he would not deign to become a member of any club that would have him. The Groucho, on Soho’s Dean Street, might not have had the pleasure of inviting him in, but it does bare his name and has become famous as a hole in the wall retreat for creatives from Damien Hirst to Damon Albarn. How Groucho would have fared in such company will never be known (he died eight years before the club opened in 1985), but our guess is he may have swallowed his words (and a pint or two).
Across town on the far side of Soho, Drury Lane’s The Garrick Club is in the middle of its own membership debate. This time it isn’t namesakes casually declaring they won’t join, it’s a former prime minister’s wife joining the call for equal membership.
The campaign to force the men-only Garrick Club to admit women has been underway for sometime now but gained steam this week when Cherie Blair joined the fight, signing a petition to allow female lawyers the same networking opportunities as their male counterpoints.
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