Reviewed by Shoegirl Sept 1999

I checked out this club fairly late, arriving after 11 o'clock. (The club
offers a £1 discount to those who arrive before 11.) The crowd was mainly
small, the age range roughly early twenties to mid 40s. A rather
"traditional" women's club that would probably appeal to older women and
those going out on the scene a long time.
I have to say that I greatly disliked this club. I fortunately ran straight
into a few girls that I knew already, otherwise I would have been totally
lost. It wasn't exactly friendly to say the least. The music was truly
awful, the only time where I had been at this venue where the music from
downstairs (which unfortunately was clearly audible from upstairs) seemed
better than what was being played upstairs. On my arrival I was greeted by
no less than 3 "slow songs" that really were only good for dancing couples.
It improved slightly later with a few more recent favourites, but still
quite low on up-to-date music, unusual stuff and anything outside the
traditional "pop" scene. The floor in the Castle Inn is good for this size
of crowd and didn't get over crowded during the night. The amount of slow
songs, however, threw a lot of people off the dancefloor just as things
were beginning to liven up. Also, another annoying point was that there
were a few gapping silences between the songs, which also broke the flow of
dancing. The music was not too loud to talk, however. The Castle Inn don't
hype up drink charges as the night went on, £2.80 for a pint seemed to be
order of the day, with a fairly good range of beers on tap.

It seemed to me that this club would appeal to the over 30s, almost like a
dyke version of Nightowls.** I wasn't too impressed and I am fairly sure
that anyone coming out on the scene for the first time would not be too
enamoured with it.

Rating: Poor/Fair

* Women only usually means that boys don't get in, however, rumour has it
that this club allows in drag acts. I didn't see any. I presume that
transsexuals would not be turned away, though I wouldn't be certain of this.
** Nightclub for the over-30s in Ranelagh village.