One Hull Of A Story: The Oldest Sex Shop In Britain!
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Infamous throughout Hull, Gwenap was an "adult shop" on Princes Avenue, close to the junction with Spring Bank. Sadly the iconic shop closed in 2013, but before its departure from the street-scape of Princes Avenue it was said that Gwenap was possibly the oldest adult shop in the country. The shop opened in 1902, initially as a ladies' outfitters and hat-maker. But in most people's living memory in the city it has always been a quirky little sex shop. Which up until its closure sold (as the sign said), "specialist underwear and pleasure wear", and other adult items. The shop changed little over its life, and for its patrons and those who just wandered passed having a furtive peek in the window, that was its charm. With its dodgy 70s mannequins, dressed in PVC nurses out-fits and often oddly unsexy, "sexy" underwear. And then there was the notorious Gwenap Flyer, Hull's very own contact mag. That no-one ever claimed to have read, never mind placed an advert in. Which is odd considering it was published for decades.
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The owners of Gwenap never saw themselves as a "sex shop", more a "naughty little shop". And that was the affection that the people of Hull had for it. They tried to keep ahead of the game, and provide customers with whatever they needed, even if that was an understanding and non-judgemental ear. Jim Starkey took over the shop in 1988, and developed a reputation for posting cheeky banners and signs on the front of the shop, to entice customers, and also amuse drivers waiting at lights of the Princes Avenue / Spring Bank junction. Examples of slogans he's posted over the years are "Knickers to the lot of you" and "Bent Politicians welcome here", as well as last ones featured in the photographs here. Unfortunately due to competition both the city and online, in 2009 Jim made the difficult decision to close Gwenap.
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There was a public out-cry at the thought the iconic shop could close, and so Jim kept the shop open, despite running it at a loss, while he found a purchaser. In a Hull Daily Mail article of 2010, he said of the new purchaser, "His main reason for wishing to purchase Gwenap is the name which is almost certainly the longest established business in this field in Britain and maybe even the world." The deal done, Gwenap opened under new ownership in October 2010, going through a renovation and a change in direction to meet the needs of the modern adult market. The shop took on a whole retro 50s vibe, buying into the rising interest in burlesque. Unfortunately however, by January 2013 the new owners decided to cut their losses and close Gwenap. Taking the famous name online.
But what of the Gwenap Flyer? Well that went with the hand-over in 2010, but who did advertise in it? In 2000 there was a news story that made national headlines, involving the Gwenap Flyer. A local butcher was accused of attempting the blackmail his ex-wife, with a supposed sex-tape they had made at an orgy involving six other couples, that had been arranged via adverts placed in the infamous Gwenap Flyer. |
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