One of Norfolk’s last remaining traditional gentlemen’s clubs has agreed to allow women to join, saying the change will help it reflect the “modern landscape”.
The Strangers Club, in Norwich, approved the new policy following a vote among its 170 members. While 82% supported the change, almost a fifth voted against it. The Elm Hill establishment has already admitted its first female member in its 99-year history: Collette Thomson, a surgeon whose father, Stephen, is the club’s current president and oversaw the policy change.
The decision means only one Norfolk private members’ club now remains men-only: the City Club, also in Norwich. The county’s other club of this type, the Norfolk Club in Upper King Street, has accepted women members since the 1990s.
The move follows recent legal challenges to gentlemen’s clubs in London, where critics have argued that excluding women breaches equality laws.
‘This could be the death of the club’
Despite the clear majority in favour, some members remain opposed. One member, who asked not to be named, said they saw no reason to change the club’s rules, stressing that the institution was “steeped in tradition” and that many members were uncomfortable with change.
They said some had already begun attending less frequently and warned that the decision could ultimately harm the club’s future. “Frankly – and I hope I am wrong – this could be the death of the club,” the member said.
‘We had to open membership to women’
The Strangers Club was established in 1927 as a meeting place for leading figures in the city’s business and professional community, including lawyers, doctors and entrepreneurs. Stephen Thomson, the club’s president, said the change reflected both social reality and the club’s founding purpose. “If the club had been founded today, then given the number of women business leaders, membership would have been open to women,” he said.
He said the club still aspired to be the premier gathering place for Norwich’s professional and business community, adding that although women had long been welcomed at social events, it had become clear that full membership should be opened. While acknowledging that some members found the change difficult, Mr Thomson said the vast majority supported it and confirmed that no one had resigned as a result. He added that the club had always been welcoming to members’ families and regularly hosted inclusive events.
‘An antidote to the digital world’
Collette Thomson, the club’s first female member, is a consultant plastic surgeon at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. She had been a teenager when her father first joined. She had been struck at the time by the club’s exclusionary rules, which she described as outdated.
Ms Thomson said her decision to join was driven less by tradition than by a desire for connection. She described the club as offering something increasingly rare in a digital world dominated by emails and messaging. “This club is an antidote to that,” she said, “offering a space where you can meet people face to face and have conversations over a meal.”
So far, the club has received five applications from women, three of whom are daughters of existing members.
Pressure on remaining men-only club
The policy change may increase pressure on the City Club, in nearby Colegate, to also accept women members. Gurpreet Padda, Labour cabinet member for equalities and social justice at Norwich City Council, said she saw no justification for men-only private members’ clubs in 2026. She said such spaces hinder equality and described them as a backward step, arguing that they prevent women from progressing.
Legal challenges put gentlemen’s clubs under scrutiny
Men-only clubs in London have faced growing pressure in recent years, with some women challenging membership rules through the courts. The Garrick Club, in London’s West End, became the focus of a legal dispute after businesswoman Emily Bendell argued that its men-only membership breached equality legislation.
Under the Equality Act 2010, single-sex organisations such as choirs or sports clubs are permitted. However, the law restricts discrimination by businesses providing services. Ms Bendell and her lawyers argued that because the Garrick operated a restaurant and guest rooms, women were being denied access to services on the same terms as men. Following the challenge, members voted to allow women to join.
So are there still private members’ clubs for men only?
The Strangers Club is the youngest of Norfolk’s remaining traditional clubs. It was founded in 1927 by six “local gentlemen” seeking to build a community of business leaders and professionals. Its name references Flemish and Dutch Protestant “strangers” who fled religious persecution and settled in Norwich in the 16th century. Membership costs around £600, and the club enforces a dress code that excludes jeans and trainers, favouring collared shirts, jackets and trousers.
The county’s oldest private members’ club, the Norfolk Club, dates back to 1770 and is thought to have around 400 members. Its membership was traditionally drawn from the county’s landowning and farming communities.
The City Club, founded in 1897 and historically frequented by former police officers, now has around 90 members. It is currently the only private members’ club in Norwich that remains men-only.
Meanwhile, in London, a number of clubs such as the Turf Club, White’s, Brooks’s, the Savage Club, the Portland Club and the Savile Club are still excluding women members. How long will they be able to withstand the winds of change?
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