British Columbia House

The Paris Theatre (also known as the Paris Studios) was originally a cinema located at 12 Lower Regent Street in central London which was converted into a studio by the BBC for radio broadcasts requiring an audience. It was used for several decades by the BBC as the main venue for comedy programmes broadcast on BBC Radios 2 and 4.The venue had a capacity of under 400 and a stage roughly twelve inches from the floor, giving it an intimate feeling helpful for radio comedy with an audience. Shows recorded there included panel game shows such as I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, comedy such as Hi Gang!, Dad's Army, The Goon Show, Don't Stop Now - It's Fundation and non-audience shows such as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.In addition to comedy, the BBC recorded many of the dramatical broadcasts by Raymond Raikes as well as by musical artists including acts such as T. Rex, David Bowie, AC/DC, Badfinger, the Beatles, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen 1968, Shakin' Stevens, Family, Streetwalkers, Jeff Beck, Deep Purple, Slade, Hawkwind, Status Quo, Sad Café, Dr. Feelgood, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Queen, Pink Floyd, Nazareth, Barclay James Harvest, Rod Stewart, Simple Minds, the Screaming Blue Messiahs, Ultravox, the Pretenders and the Wailers. Some of these performances were recorded in front of live studio audiences as part of the In Concert and Sounds of the Seventies series, and several of these acts have subsequently released tapes of sessions recorded at the studio, such as Led Zeppelin's BBC Sessions album. It was also the London home of the BBC's Radio 1 Club in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Paris Theatre closed in 1995, being replaced by the BBC Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House. The closure was marked with a commemorative concert and broadcast of the last show ever to be recorded at the theatre, namely the final show in series two of The Skivers.David Bowie recorded one of his final live recordings there in 2000 deemed to be one of his finest performances.

Charles II Street is a street in St James's in the City of Westminster, London. It runs roughly west to east, starting from the middle of the east side of St James's Square, crossing Regent Street where it becomes Waterloo Place, and ending at Haymarket. At its eastern end it is joined by St Alban's Street on its north side and the Royal Opera Arcade which runs south to join Pall Mall. The street, originally known as Charles Street, was built by about 1665, and the first recorded mention is in 1672. Until 1818, when it was extended to join the Haymarket, Charles Street terminated at (the former) Market Lane. Access to the Haymarket was only available via the courtyard of the Bell Inn.The Security Service (MI5) was based at 16 Charles Street from 1916 to 1919. The road was renamed Charles II Street in 1939.

The Clarence Club, formerly known as the Literary Union Club, was a gentlemen's club founded in 1826, as a socially exclusive dining society that met in Conduit Street, Mayfair, by the poet Thomas Campbell, with the objective of the facilitation of social connections between those with an interest in the arts, philosophy, finance, trade, business, and science. Most of its members were English, but, originally, it included a significant core of members of Scottish descent. It is notable for its prohibition, then radical, of the extension of membership to any member of the press. In 1829, it occupied premises in Regent Street, renamed itself the Literary Union Club, and revised its membership statutes to make it less exclusive. It had over 700 members by 1831. After membership became too numerous, it subsequently renamed itself again, as the Clarence Club, occupied 12 Waterloo Place, Pall Mall and limited its membership to 600. It was dissolved in April 1834. Campbell's Literary Association of the Friends of Poland, founded in 1831, took most of its membership from the Clarence Club.

St James's is a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. In the 17th century the area developed as a residential location for the British aristocracy, and around the 19th century was the focus of the development of gentlemen's clubs. Once part of the parish of St Martin in the Fields, much of it formed the parish of St James from 1685 to 1922. Since the Second World War the area has transitioned from residential to commercial use. St James's is bounded to the north by Piccadilly and Mayfair, to the west by Green Park, to the south by The Mall bounding St. James's Park, and to the east by Haymarket.

This is a list of the 163 resident embassies in London. For other diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom, see List of diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom.

The High Commission of Papua New Guinea in London is the diplomatic mission of Papua New Guinea in the United Kingdom. In line with other Papuan diplomatic missions it is also referred to as Kundu London, after the traditional Papuan kundu drum. The High Commission was established in 1975, the year of Papua New Guinea's independence from Australia.

The Royal Gallery of Illustration was a 19th-century performance venue located at 14 Regent Street in London. It was in use between 1850 and 1873. The gallery was built in the 1820s by the architect John Nash as part of his own house, to display his considerable collection of paintings. In 1850 the building was named the Gallery of Illustration, and between then and 1855 it housed a diorama created and run by the theatrical scene-painters Thomas Grieve and William Telbin. From 1856 to 1873 the gallery was in the hands of the singer and actress Priscilla Horton and her husband German Reed. Their entertainments developed from songs and comedy with piano accompaniment to programmes of short plays and operettas. In deference to respectable mid-Victorian doubts about the propriety of theatres, the Reeds called their productions "entertainments", and avoided the use of the words "theatre", "play" and other theatrical terms. Under the Reeds the gallery played an important part in the development of a new generation of authors, composers and performers. Among the writers whose works the Reeds staged were W. S. Gilbert and F. C. Burnand, and their composers included Arthur Sullivan, Frederic Clay and Alfred Cellier. The performers Arthur Cecil, Corney Grain and Fanny Holland made their names at the gallery early in their careers. The lease of the building expired in 1873, and it ceased to be used as a performance venue. The Reeds moved to another theatre, and the gallery became a banqueting hall.

Norfolk House, 31 St James's Square, Westminster, was built between 1748 and 1752 as his London townhouse by Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk (1686–1777) to the design of Matthew Brettingham (1699–1769), "the Elder", and was demolished in 1938. His country house and main seat was Worksop Manor in Nottinghamshire. Norfolk House was built on a site formerly occupied by two houses, namely St Albans House, the residence of the Earl of St Albans (purchased by Thomas Howard, 8th Duke of Norfolk in 1722), and the other the residence of John Belasyse, 1st Baron Belasyse (1614–1689) (purchased by the 9th Duke of Norfolk in 1748). Both these houses were demolished in 1748 by the 9th Duke of Norfolk in preparation for his new house.

The Guards Crimean War Memorial is a Grade II listed memorial in St James's, London, that commemorates the Allied victory in the Crimean War of 1853–56. It is located on Waterloo Place, at the junction of Regent Street and Pall Mall, approximately one-quarter of the way from the Duke of York Column to Piccadilly Circus.

The statue of Florence Nightingale is an outdoor Grade II-listed sculpture in London, United Kingdom. It was sculpted in 1915 by Arthur George Walker, and is a subsidiary part of the Guards Crimean War Memorial.

The statue of Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea is an outdoor sculpture in London, United Kingdom. Created by J. H. Foley, it was erected by public subscription in 1867 and was originally placed in the courtyard of Cumberland House, Pall Mall (which at the time was the headquarters of the War Office). It moved with the War Office to Whitehall in 1906, where it was placed (out of public sight) in the courtyard of the new War Office building; but eight years later it was moved again to Waterloo Place to stand alongside the Crimean War Memorial, where it is paired with a statue of Herbert's friend and fellow reformer Florence Nightingale.

The Travellers Club is a private gentlemen's club situated at 106 Pall Mall in London, United Kingdom. It is the oldest of the surviving Pall Mall clubs and one of the most exclusive, having been established in 1819. It was described as "the quintessential English gentleman's club" by the Los Angeles Times in 2004.