Bristol Leather Weekend #BLW2014

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 

Brizzle’s the best in the west!

Indulging in memories of a visit to Bristol with my partner brought a huge smile to my face. Even though it was a short stopover, it left an indelible impression on me. It was a Sunday evening towards the end of the summer, during our road trip around England, that we reached bustling ‘Brizzle’. We arrived later than planned, but we had time to get "ship-shape and Bristol fashion!"

In the weeks running up to our road trip  and visiting Bristol, I made contact with some of the leather and BLUF guys from LeatherWest and BLUF@Bristol. The responses were filled with enthusiasm. Straight away, BLUF SBerg started to round up the leather troops for the Bank Holiday weekend. Given the short stay in Bristol, to meet our fellow leather brothers, my partner and I wanted reasonably priced accommodation near The Den bar, where we had arranged to meet. The Den is a men-only fetish bar, which ideally offers budget accommodation over the bar - named ‘The Den Rooms’. It was ideal, with reasonable rates, satisfactory facilities that couldn't be any closer to The Den bar! The alleyway at the side of the bar, with its concrete walls, metal gates and industrial spiral steel staircase, brings you up to the roof terrace and access to The Den Rooms – and is a very masculine entrance space for any leatherman that knows just how this kind of background goes well with leather!

After the enjoyable pleasure that is buffing up one’s gear and adorning oneself with layers of leather, it was time to make our way down to The Den bar to catch up with our Brizzle brothers. With a couple of knocks on the door, we enter. The bar was starting to get busy, with a mixture of fetishists: skinheads, rubber guys, and of course, leathermen! Heading straight to the bar to order our first drink, my partner and I recognised a familiar accent. The bar man was from Northern Ireland – typical, us ‘Norn Irish’ are everywhere! As Norn Irish men do, we got chatting and had a bit of ‘craic’ (banter) as we call it.

From the online exchange before arriving in Bristol, it was easy to spot our BLUF brother, SBerg, who warmly welcomed us to the city – and the Den – and introduced us to his leather comrades. The drink was flowing and the ‘craic’ was good. We decided to grab a pew in the heated smoking area out the back. While sharing our stories from our recent road trip, and hearing from the Brizzle boys about how the leather community is going from strength to strength, I didn't notice the bar filling up with loads of guys, especially on a Sunday night – but after all, it was a Bank Holiday weekend. Happy days!

Everyone was very friendly and the atmosphere was relaxed, but beginning to fill with excitement as the bar packed out with leathermen, muscle bears, rubber guys and eager subs.  We were very lucky to be seated around a picnic bench with views into the bar area, and the opening of the darkroom! As the night progressed, things were getting hotter by the minute. Eye contact and body language was getting stronger, more intense, and fun and frolics was being sought. The views of hot guys indulging in passionate intimacy and kinky copulation from ‘the bench’ got my blood pumping. It reminded me of how leatherfolk embrace such socio-sexual spaces as a way of expressing their sexual freedom. Such bars are essential for us to express our sexual identity in a safe and friendly environment.

Our conversation, at the bench, gradually turned to the joys of nipple play and tit toys. It isn't only on a topic I enjoy talking about, if you know what I mean (*wink wink, nudge nudge*)! One of the Bristol brothers reflected on the joys of nipple suckers (caps) and how one can improvise without purchasing the expensive ones we all (probably) know about being sold in fetish stores. The ‘improvised ones’ can be found in all good hardware stores. (However, I still never remember to visit those stores to acquire this toy! And I call myself a fetishist leatherman – tut tut!) During our tête-à-tête, a fellow brizzle muscle (leather) bear ‘D’ produced his metal clover clamps. Well, my eyes opened, as did my leather shirt!

It was only appropriate to try the clover clamps, given the heated conversation. The intensity and pleasure generated from the clamps slowly pressing on my nipples was immense. The atmosphere was sexually charged. My fellow pleasure seeker, muscle bear ‘D’, removed one of the clamps and placed it on his nipple, allowing us to tug against each other. Eye contact was powerful around the bench. It was time to take this to the next level.

Our group made our way into the bar to the dark room. Dimly lit, my eyes gradually adjusted to the surroundings. The room was heated with the presence of men. The pleasure continued, all over my body, not just my nipples. Fantasies were coming reality. The sound of leather creaking and the sensation of other men’s leather rubbing against me was exhilarating. The Den was truly rocking, with the hum of moans and groans from pleasure seekers.  

Afterwards, we returned to ‘the bench’ to finish our drinks and natter some more. However, the night wasn't over. Round two would follow, via the concrete alleyway, and metal staircase, in our room, above The Den. It was a pure delight to share such leathersex with my brizzle brothers.

I have such fond memories from that night. As I said at the beginning, recalling these memories always brings a huge smile to the face. You guys, and you know who you are, will have to visit us Irish leather guys…so we can return the favour (and pleasure)!