Peter's interview concludes with his reminiscences of the London gay scene, from cruising in the city's green open spaces to the founding of Bearhug.

Peter's interview concludes with youthful memories of 'cottages' and cruising, especially in London's green spaces like Hampstead Heath and Wimbledon Common. He reflects, though, that most men who still go 'cottaging' in toilets or cruising on the 'Heath', are generally not involved in the gay scene at all, being either bisexual or deeply closeted within conventional marriages. He also notes that today's bar scene is unrecognisable from that of the past, and rainbow flags outside gay or gay-friendly venues is something that would never have been dared before.

Peter comments that though some gay men and women might still get nostalgic about the pre-Wolfenden days, when homosexuality's very illegality made it more exciting, he prefers the more open and honest environment of today, where there is much more freedom of choice and a much greater variety of clubs, organisations and venues available for gay men and women to meet.

Nowadays, being a more mature gay man, Peter regrets that the Coleherne, the leather bar he once frequented, has become a noisy pub for 'twinks', a derogatory description for young gay men obsessed with fashion, drugs and partying. Always attracted to mature, heavy-set, hirsute men, Peter helped set up Bearhug, a club for men who class themselves as 'bears', and who prefer an atmosphere free from attitude or judgements on looks, weight or age. Originally meeting at the Empire in Holborn, before it closed, and later at the King's Arms in Poland Street, Peter says that Bearhug organises various events, trips in the UK and abroad and always tries to avoid things that are too commercial or geared to the younger crowd.

Peter ends by saying that the lifestyle younger gays enjoy today was fought for by previous generations, many of whom would die from AIDS in the 80s.

Born in 1936 to parents of Italian origin, Peter grew up in London. From an early age he was attracted to older men and was having sex with them from the time he was 12. Neither Peter nor his older lovers associated with 'rent-boys', nor did Peter have any sexual encounters with any of his school-friends.

During the latter part of the 60s, Peter who went to the Central School of Arts & Crafts, as it was then called and now called Central Saint Martins, dressed in hippy clothes and had long hair, but remained disengaged from the liberation movements that were emerging at the time.

He became interested in the 'leather-scene' that was centred on the Coleherne pub in Earl's Court and in the early 1990s was a co-founder of Bearhug, a club that catered for husky, hirsute men and those who admired them. His partner is David, whose skills as an accountant, are greatly appreciated by other members of the club.

The Wolfenden Report, which became a best-seller when it was published in September 1957, represented the findings of a committee, which, in the wake of the recent scandal of the Montagu trial, was set up to investigate and consider homosexual offences and prostitution. Appointed by the then Home Secretary, David Maxwell-Fyffe, himself credited with wishing to ‘rid England of this [homosexual] plague’, Sir John Wolfenden’s committee of 11 men and four women first met on the 15th September 1954.

Over 60 meetings later and after much research, discussion and interviews with church figures, who were much more supportive of reform than might be thought, police representatives, members of the medical profession including Dr Alfred Kinsey, known for his ground breaking reports into human sexuality, and several gay men, the report was published. The report recommended that homosexual acts between consenting adults in private should no longer be a criminal offence and recommending that the age of consent for such acts should be set at 21. However, successive governments failed to act upon the committee’s recommendations until 1967 when, under a Labour government, the Sexual Offences Act 1967 came into law.