Stocks and Snares is a new monthly Friday night event on the 3rd Friday of every month.  Like most new events a lot of effort goes into raising interest on the London scene - we have so much choice in London these days - some say too much choice - that a new club night barely raises an eyebrow. 

For me the idea of making the monumental trip to E17 from south east London holds little appeal - particularly on a Friday evening when I could be chilling out over a few glasses of wine.  However, this weekend I did make the effort and I'm very glad I did.

The venue (800 Lea Bridge Road) looks spectacularly unimpressive from outside - so much so that you could easily pass it unnoticed.  Luckily I was with someone who had known it in its previous life as a gay sauna and so he located it with unexpected ease. Later of course I was to realise he was a bitch on heat and had sniffed out the action just as easily!

The staff were friendly and courteous - you arrive at bar level and in fact it has the atmosphere of a sports club - perhaps a throw back to its sauna days.  A fully stocked bar, as well as a tuck shop await here with crisps and chocolate for those in need of energy!

We bumped into some friends here straight away and spent some time chatting.

I was then given a tour of the premises by the host, Baron Switch, who is delighted to be running this new Friday night event. The first floor has a dance floor and well equipped changing areas, with plenty of lockers (which actually lock!) good mirrors and lighting for those of us who need to adjust our make up regularly.  There is also a large wet room / shower area on this floor.

Up again and you have dungeon space with some very nice kit, a room next door with subdued lighting and padded seating - something along the lines of a couples room although the seating is around the edge so not necessarily encouraging to those who want to fall into the paths of others!

There are also a series of lockable "rooms" with padded floors, dark red walls and again subdued lighting.  Plenty of space for private and public play - take your choice. Whilst not overly busy on Friday, there was plenty of play going on and there seemed to be lots of action on the dance floor too! Amazingly enough the busiest rooms seemed to be the changing rooms - it seems we like being huddled together in small spaces for some strange reason!

It may take a while for this event to really get going but I think it will be worth it when it does. There is plenty of potential in the venue, the bar prices are good and the opening hours allow a long night of play if that's what you are after.

Its also a great venue to host a birthday event - because the venue is over 4 floors you can lose yourself if you want to or avoid the play areas if that is really not your scene.

Definitely worth looking in on!