Well, blow me! What a weekend! My Bristol Brothers have done
it again. They surely know how to throw a fetish fiesta. The Bristol Leather Weekend was a fantastic gathering of leathermen from across the south west of England, across the country, from Ireland, the Netherlands, Australia and beyond.
The weekend's festivities commenced with welcome drinks at the Bristol Bear Bar. Despite the rain, the leathermen were pouring in. I cannot imagine the bear bar, or Bristol, ever had so much 'dead cow' in one space before. At one point, looking across the bar, it was a sea of Muir caps, Langlitz, and leathermen!
After catching up with some friends, and getting to know new ones, it was time to eat. For those leathermen who were BLUF members, our Bristolian hosts had organised an exclusive evening meal at The Retreat, just a few stomps from the bear bar. For me, it was amazing to see so many leathermen in one place sitting down for dinner, socialising and sharing stories with one another. For this occasion, my recently acquired Langlitz jacket was staying on!
During dinner, I nipped downstairs to use the facilities, where I accidentally spotted the 'interactive art installation' on the pool table. This was shaping up to be an interesting evening! As I walked into the gents, I noticed the iron bar gate. Great for photos, I thought. After dinner, with more leathermen arriving, my partner and I went downstairs to explore. It was then we spotted the official photographer for the weekend, Neil Page. As we got chatting, the conversation came around to my partner and I saying 'wouldn't it be excellent to have a few photos taken.' And so we did, with Neil fixing the settings on his equipment to capture us in the dimly lit basement. After several shots, and trying not to giggle, Neil got a few photos to show us. WOW. They looked fantastic! Then we remembered the iron bar gate at the entrance of the toilets. Over we went. 'Snap, snap' - a few photos of us behind the bars. Some direction from Neil, and, again, 'snap, snap' the shutter went. As we were reviewing the photos, we were all very pleased with how they turned out. (When we got the e-versions emailed to us afterwards, we were extremely delighted, as was Neil, the photographer. And now they are getting loads of 'likes' and positive comments on Facebook. I have to say, a huge thank you to Neil for the quality of the photos, and to everyone for the fantastic comments. Much appreciated.)
Buzzing after the impromptu photo shoot, we made our way back upstairs to grab our drinks and chat further with our leather brothers. All-in-all, the first night of the weekend was very enjoyable and set the weekend off to a good start.
The Saturday was filled with an art expo that included sketches and paintings, accompanied with leather literature on sale, and a speed dating event, before the first ever Mr LeatherWest competition. Very well hosted by our leather brother, Spencer, the event was something very special to be part of, especially given the amount of effort the Bristolian leathermen put into it and for the first of its kind in the south west. Huge congratulations to the winner, Neil Harris, on being crowned the inaugural Mr LeatherWest 2014. Further details on the runners-up are available on the LeatherWest website. The atmosphere was electric after the announcement of the winner, and the party continued into the wee hours, with many leathermen joining the revelers at The Palace for post-competition shenanigans.
The Bristol Leather Weekend was definitely one of the best leather gatherings in the UK in recent years. Those guys have demonstrated how dedication, pooling resources and efforts, and nurturing a strong spirit of camaraderie can achieve great outcomes. A huge thank you has to go to Tim, SBerg, James Langlitz, Spencer and all the other organisers for making this a very special leather gathering. You should all be very proud of what you have achieved. And I am delighted that my partner and I were part of this wonderful weekend. I hope to see you - and many of the other guys from the weekend - in Dublin at a GEAR/BLUF night in the future. Get planning guys!
Leathercolt
Buzzing after the impromptu photo shoot, we made our way back upstairs to grab our drinks and chat further with our leather brothers. All-in-all, the first night of the weekend was very enjoyable and set the weekend off to a good start.
The Saturday was filled with an art expo that included sketches and paintings, accompanied with leather literature on sale, and a speed dating event, before the first ever Mr LeatherWest competition. Very well hosted by our leather brother, Spencer, the event was something very special to be part of, especially given the amount of effort the Bristolian leathermen put into it and for the first of its kind in the south west. Huge congratulations to the winner, Neil Harris, on being crowned the inaugural Mr LeatherWest 2014. Further details on the runners-up are available on the LeatherWest website. The atmosphere was electric after the announcement of the winner, and the party continued into the wee hours, with many leathermen joining the revelers at The Palace for post-competition shenanigans.
The Bristol Leather Weekend was definitely one of the best leather gatherings in the UK in recent years. Those guys have demonstrated how dedication, pooling resources and efforts, and nurturing a strong spirit of camaraderie can achieve great outcomes. A huge thank you has to go to Tim, SBerg, James Langlitz, Spencer and all the other organisers for making this a very special leather gathering. You should all be very proud of what you have achieved. And I am delighted that my partner and I were part of this wonderful weekend. I hope to see you - and many of the other guys from the weekend - in Dublin at a GEAR/BLUF night in the future. Get planning guys!
Leathercolt
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