London’s Gentlemen’s Clubs reached their heyday in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They originated in the 18th century as coffee shops where London’s rich young aristocrats met to talk, drink and gamble, and by the 19th century had evolved into exclusive clubs.

The two main locations of these clubs were on Pall Mall and on St James’s Street. Some of the clubs still exist today, for example the Atheneum, the Travellers Club and the Reform Club on Pall Mall and Whites, Brooks and the Carlton Club on St James’s Street.

The Gentlemen’s Clubs epitomise the stereotype of a Victorian London peopled by men clad in pinstripe suits, smoking cigars and drinking port. And even today the archaic rules and rituals are often still in place. This means that most are subject to strict and elaborate membership restrictions, out of bounds for women - and closed to the public.

Nevertheless, often the buildings themselves are quite elaborate and decorative so it is quite interesting to wander along Pall Mall or St James’s Street just reflecting about the exclusivity of it all.

A particularly well known club is the very Conservative Carlton Club, made famous by the fact that Margaret Thatcher had to be made an Honorary Man in order to join!