Spain
By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem.
This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula.
The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is an affluent district in West London, located north of Kensington within the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea as well as Westminster. Notting Hill is known for being a neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival. For much of the 20th century, the houses were subdivided into multi-occupancy rentals. Since it was first developed in the 1820s, Notting Hill has had an association with artists, the area in the west around Pottery Lane was used in the early 19th century for making bricks and tiles out of the heavy clay dug in the area. The clay was shaped and fired in a series of brick, the only remaining 19th-century tile kiln in London is on Walmer Road. In the same area, pig farmers moved in after being forced out of the Marble Arch area, avondale Park was created in 1892 out of a former area of pig slurry called the Ocean. This was part of a general clean-up of the area which had known as the Potteries and Piggeries. The area remained rural until the expansion of London reached Bayswater in the early 19th century.
The main landowner in Notting Hill was the Ladbroke family, working with the architect and surveyor Thomas Allason, Ladbroke began to lay out streets and houses, with a view to turning the area into a fashionable suburb of the capital. Many of these bear the Ladbroke name, including Ladbroke Grove, the main north-south axis of the area, and Ladbroke Square. The original idea was to call the district Kensington Park, the local telephone prefix 7727 is based on the old telephone exchange name of PARk. Ladbroke left the business of developing his land to the firm of City solicitors, Bayley. In 1823 Allason completed a plan for the layout of the portion of the estate. This marks the genesis of his most enduring idea – the creation of large communal gardens, originally known as pleasure grounds, or paddocks. To this day these communal garden squares continue to provide the area much of its attraction for the wealthiest householders. In 1837 the Hippodrome racecourse was laid out, the racecourse ran around the hill, and bystanders were expected to watch from the summit of the hill.
However, the venture was not a success, in due to a public right of way which traversed the course. The Hippodrome closed in 1841, after which development resumed and houses were built on the site, at the summit of hill stands the elegant St Johns church, built in 1845 in the early English style, and which formed the centrepiece of the Ladbroke Estate development
Paddington
Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in central London. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965, a major project called Paddington Waterside aims to regenerate former railway and canal land between 1998 and 2018, and the area is seeing many new developments. However, the provenance is much and likely to have been forged after the 1066 Norman conquest. There is no mention of the place in the Domesday Book of 1086, a more reliable 12th-century document cited by the cleric Isaac Maddox establishes that part of the land was held by brothers Richard and William de Padinton. In the Elizabethan and early Stuart era, the rectory, Nicholas Small was a clothworker who was sufficiently well connected to have Holbein paint a portrait of his wife, Jane Small. Nicholas died in 1565 and his wife married again, to Nicholas Parkinson of Paddington who became master of the Clothworkers company. Jane Small continued to live in Paddington after her husbands death, and her manor house was big enough to have been let to Sir John Popham.
They let the building that became in this time Blowers Inn, as the regional population grew in the 17th century, Paddingtons ancient Hundred of Ossulstone was split into divisions, Holborn Division replaced the hundred for most administrative purposes. By 1773, a contemporary historian felt and wrote that London may now be said to include two cities, one borough and forty six antient villages. Roman roads formed the parishs north-eastern and southern boundaries from Marble Arch, Watling Street and, Uxbridge road, known by the 1860s in this neighbourhood as Bayswater Road. They were toll roads in much of the 18th century, before, by 1801, the area saw the start-point of an improved Harrow Road and an arm of the Grand Junction Canal - these remain. The district formed the centrepiece of an 1824 masterplan by Samuel Pepys Cockerell to redevelop the Tyburn Estate into an area to rival Belgravia. Despite this, Thackeray described the district of Tyburnia as the elegant, the prosperous, the polite Tyburnia.
Derivation of the name is uncertain, speculative explanations include Padre-ing-tun, Pad-ing-tun, and Pæding-tun the last being the cited suggestion of the Victorian Anglo-Saxon scholar John Mitchell Kemble. There is another Paddington in Surrey, recorded in the Domesday Book as Padendene, a lord named Padda is named in the Domesday Book, associated with Brampton, Suffolk. An 18th-century dictionary gives the definition Paddington Fair Day, an execution day, Tyburn being in the parish or neighbourhood of Paddington. To dance the Paddington frisk, to be hanged, public executions were abolished in England in 1868. Paddington station is the terminus for services to the west of London and mainline services to Oxford, South-West England
Ladbroke Grove tube station
Originally opened as part of the Metropolitan Railway on 13 June 1864, the station was originally named Notting Hill. With the extension of line from Paddington to Hammersmith it was renamed Notting Hill & Ladbroke Grove in 1880. The renamings were efforts to avoid confusion with the opening of Notting Hill Gate tube station, Ladbroke Grove is two stops away from Wood Lane which has step-free access. The project at Ladbroke Grove would have provided two new lifts to platform level and a new step-free entrance, £3.06 million was spent on Ladbroke Grove before the project was halted. This station appears in a version of the music video for Lily Allens LDN. Allen alights here after travelling from Hammersmith tube station on the Hammersmith, the station appears in the films Kidulthood and Adulthood
Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove is a North-west London road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, running north/south between Holland Park Avenue and Harrow Road. It is the given to the immediate surrounding area of Notting Hill and North Kensington, straddling the W10. Ladbroke Grove tube station is located on the road, at the point where it is crossed by the Westway, the adjacent bridge and nearby section of the Westway was regenerated in 2007 in a partnership including Urban Eye, Transport for London and London Underground. It is the nearest tube station to Portobello Road Market and it is the main road on the route of the annual Notting Hill Carnival in August. The northern tip of the road is located in Kensal Green, the street is named after James Weller Ladbroke, who developed the Ladbroke Estate in the mid-19th century, until a largely rural area on the western edges of London. The Anglican church of St Michael and All Angels in the road was designed by James Edmeston, hablot Knight Browne, the cartoonist who illustrated Charles Dickens novels as Phiz, lived at No.99 in 1872-80.
The Serbian Orthodox Church of St Sava is on Lancaster Road, the church building was originally built in 1903 as the Anglican church of St Columba, in 1952 it was re-consecrated as Saint Savas, to serve a growing community of post-war refugees. It was the venue for the baptism of Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia, son of Peter II, in 1945, Princess Maria Tatiana, daughter of Prince Andrew of Yugoslavia, was baptised there in 1957. In 2013, it was the venue for the service of Princess Margarita of Baden. The psychedelic rock band Hawkwind were formed here in 1969, the Deviants and Pink Fairies were musical groups out of the Ladbroke Grove UK underground movement, from which a number of bands would emerge, influenced by anarchistic singer/writer Mick Farren. Punk group The Clash formed locally in 1976, the Roughler magazine emerged in the 1980s and 1990s to chronicle the antics of the more Bohemian residents, including the legendary Portobello Pantos. Ladbroke Grove features as the scene of Van Morrisons 1968 song Slim Slow Slider from Astral Weeks, the Pulp song I Spy, from the album Different Class, features the line your Ladbroke Grove looks turn me on.
The Blur song Fools Day features Ladbroke Grove in its lyrics, the Slits song Ping Pong Affair features Ladbroke Grove in its lyrics. LDN by Lily Allen mentions Ladbroke Grove in a chorus of London placenames. Killing Joke have recently released an EP that features two mixes of a song called Ghost Of Ladbroke Grove, the novels of author Michael Moorcock often contain references to Ladbroke Grove, the location being the headquarters of his fictional characters Jerry Cornelius and Colonel Pyat. Popular grime artist AJ Tracey features Ladbroke Grove in many of his songs including, AJ grew to fame with his EP The Front,2015, where he constantly links his music to where he grew up from. Siting it at Kensal Rise, rather than next to Paddington itself, tfL is conducting a feasibility study on the station and the project is backed by National Grid, retailers Sainsburys and Cath Kidston, and Jenny Jones. The plans were resurrected by Boris Johnson in 2016, Ladbroke Grove is served by London Buses routes 7,23,52,70,228,295,316,452 and N7
Grade (slope)
The grade of a physical feature, landform or constructed line refers to the tangent of the angle of that surface to the horizontal. It is a case of the slope, where zero indicates horizontality. A larger number indicates higher or steeper degree of tilt, often slope is calculated as a ratio of rise to run, or as a fraction in which run is the horizontal distance and rise is the vertical distance. The grades or slopes of existing physical features such as canyons and hillsides and river banks, grades are typically specified for new linear constructions. The grade may refer to the slope or the perpendicular cross slope. There are several ways to express slope, as an angle of inclination to the horizontal, as a percentage, the formula for which is 100 rise run which could be expressed as the tangent of the angle of inclination times 100. In the U. S. this percentage grade is the most commonly used unit for communicating slopes in transportation, surveying and civil engineering. As a per mille figure, the formula for which is 1000 rise run which could be expressed as the tangent of the angle of inclination times 1000 and this is commonly used in Europe to denote the incline of a railway.
As a ratio of one part rise to so many parts run, for example, a slope that has a rise of 5 feet for every 100 feet of run would have a slope ratio of 1 in 20. This is generally the method used to describe railway grades in Australia, any of these may be used. Grade is usually expressed as a percentage, but this is converted to the angle α from horizontal or the other expressions. Slope may still be expressed when the run is not known. This is not the way to specify slope, it follows the sine function rather than the tangent function. But in practice the way to calculate slope is to measure the distance along the slope and the vertical rise. When the angle of inclination is small, using the slope length rather than the horizontal displacement makes only an insignificant difference, Railway gradients are usually expressed in terms of the rise in relation to the distance along the track as a practical measure. In cases where the difference between sin and tan is significant, the tangent is used.
In any case, the identity holds for all inclinations up to 90 degrees, tan α = sin α1 − sin 2 α In Europe. Grades are related using the equations with symbols from the figure at top
Macbeth
Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, it is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. Of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of James I and it was first published in the Folio of 1623, possibly from a prompt book, and is his shortest tragedy. A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland, consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. He is wracked with guilt and paranoia, forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion, he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler. The bloodbath and consequent civil war swiftly take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of madness, the events of the tragedy are usually associated with the execution of Henry Garnet for complicity in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
In the backstage world of theatre, some believe that the play is cursed, over the course of many centuries, the play has attracted some of the most renowned actors to the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. It has been adapted to film, opera, comics, the play opens amidst thunder and lightning, and the Three Witches decide that their next meeting shall be with Macbeth. Macbeth, the Kings kinsman, is praised for his bravery, in the following scene and Banquo discuss the weather and their victory. As they wander onto a heath, the Three Witches enter, though Banquo challenges them first, they address Macbeth, hailing him as Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and that he shall be King hereafter. Macbeth appears to be stunned to silence, when Banquo asks of his own fortunes, the witches respond paradoxically, saying that he will be less than Macbeth, yet happier, less successful, yet more. He will father a line of kings though he himself will not be one, while the two men wonder at these pronouncements, the witches vanish, and another thane, Ross and informs Macbeth of his newly bestowed title, Thane of Cawdor.
The first prophecy is fulfilled, and Macbeth, previously skeptical. King Duncan welcomes and praises Macbeth and Banquo, and declares that he spend the night at Macbeths castle at Inverness. Macbeth sends a message ahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, Lady Macbeth suffers none of her husbands uncertainty and wishes him to murder Duncan in order to obtain kingship. When Macbeth arrives at Inverness, she overrides all of her husbands objections by challenging his manhood and he and Lady Macbeth plan to get Duncans two chamberlains drunk so that they will black out, the next morning they will blame the chamberlains for the murder. They will be defenseless as they remember nothing. While Duncan is asleep, Macbeth stabs him, despite his doubts and he is so shaken that Lady Macbeth has to take charge
Pub
A pub, or public house, is an establishment licensed to sell alcoholic drinks, which traditionally include beer and cider. It is a relaxed, social drinking establishment and a prominent part of British, New Zealand, Canadian, in many places, especially in villages, a pub is the focal point of the community. In his 17th century diary Samuel Pepys described the pub as the heart of England, Pubs can be traced back to Roman taverns, through the Anglo-Saxon alehouse to the development of the tied house system in the 19th century. In 1393, King Richard II of England introduced legislation that pubs had to display a sign outdoors to make them easily visible for passing ale tasters who would assess the quality of ale sold, most pubs focus on offering beers and similar drinks. As well, pubs often sell wines and soft drinks, the owner, tenant or manager is known as the pub landlord or publican. The pub quiz was established in the UK in the 1970s and these alehouses quickly evolved into meeting houses for the folk to socially congregate and arrange mutual help within their communities.
Herein lies the origin of the public house, or Pub as it is colloquially called in England. They rapidly spread across the Kingdom, becoming so commonplace that in 965 King Edgar decreed that there should be no more than one alehouse per village. A traveller in the early Middle Ages could obtain overnight accommodation in monasteries, the Hostellers of London were granted guild status in 1446 and in 1514 the guild became the Worshipful Company of Innholders. A survey in 1577 of drinking establishment in England and Wales for taxation purposes recorded 14,202 alehouses,1,631 inns, Inns are buildings where travellers can seek lodging and, usually and drink. They are typically located in the country or along a highway, in Europe, they possibly first sprang up when the Romans built a system of roads two millennia ago. Some inns in Europe are several centuries old, in addition to providing for the needs of travellers, inns traditionally acted as community gathering places. In Europe, it is the provision of accommodation, if anything, the latter tend to provide alcohol, but less commonly accommodation.
Famous London inns include The George and The Tabard, there is however no longer a formal distinction between an inn and other kinds of establishment. In North America, the aspect of the word inn lives on in hotel brand names like Holiday Inn. The Inns of Court and Inns of Chancery in London started as ordinary inns where barristers met to do business, traditional English ale was made solely from fermented malt. The practice of adding hops to produce beer was introduced from the Netherlands in the early 15th century, alehouses would each brew their own distinctive ale, but independent breweries began to appear in the late 17th century. By the end of the century almost all beer was brewed by commercial breweries, the 18th century saw a huge growth in the number of drinking establishments, primarily due to the introduction of gin
London
London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, education, fashion, healthcare, professional services and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region.
Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud.
From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
War of Jenkins' Ear
The War of Jenkins Ear was a conflict between Britain and Spain that lasted from 1739 to 1748, with major operations largely ended by 1742. Its unusual name, coined by Thomas Carlyle in 1858, refers to an ear severed from Robert Jenkins, despite stories to that effect, there is no evidence that the severed ear was exhibited before the British Parliament. The seeds of conflict began with the separation of an ear from Jenkins following the boarding of his vessel by Spanish coast guards in 1731, the war resulted in heavy British casualties in North America. After 1742, the war was subsumed by the wider War of the Austrian Succession, peace arrived with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748. This provided British traders and smugglers potential inroads into the closed markets in Spanish America. But Britain and Spain were often at war during this period, fighting one another in the War of the Quadruple Alliance, the Blockade of Porto Bello and the Anglo-Spanish War. In the Treaty of Seville, following the Anglo-Spanish War, Britain had accorded Spanish warships the right to stop British traders, over time, the Spanish became suspicious that British traders were abusing the contract and began to board ships and confiscate their cargoes.
After very strained relations between 1727 and 1732, the situation improved between 1732 and 1737, when Sir Robert Walpole supported Spain during the War of the Polish Succession. But the causes of the problems remained and, when the opposition against Walpole grew, Walpole gave in to the pressure and approved the sending of troops to the West Indies and a squadron to Gibraltar under Admiral Nicholas Haddock, provoking an immediate Spanish reaction. In response, King Philip V of Spain annulled the right and had all British ships in Spanish harbours confiscated. The Convention of Pardo, an attempt to mediate the dispute, on 14 August, Britain recalled its ambassador to Spain and officially declared war on 23 October 1739. Despite the Pacte de Famille, France remained neutral, Walpole was deeply reluctant to declare war and reportedly remarked of the jubilation in Britain they are ringing their bells, soon they will be wringing their hands. After boarding, Fandiño cut off the ear of the Rebeccas captain, Robert Jenkins.
Fandiño told Jenkins, Go, and tell your King that I will do the same, in March 1738, Jenkins was ordered to testify before Parliament, presumably to repeat his story before a committee of the House of Commons. According to some accounts, he produced the severed ear as part of his presentation, the incident was considered alongside various other cases of Spanish Depredations upon the British Subjects, and was perceived as an insult to Britains honour and a clear casus belli. The conflict was named by essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle, in 1858, one hundred, Carlyle mentioned the ear in several passages of his History of Friedrich II, most notably in Book XI, chap VI, where he refers specifically to the War of Jenkinss Ear. More than one year later, all diplomatic means having been exhausted, on 20 July, Vice Admiral Edward Vernon and a fleet of warships departed Britain, bound for the West Indies, to attack Spanish ships and possessions. Waterhouse spotted several small vessels in the port of La Guaira and decided to attack, the governor of the Province of Venezuela, Brigadier Don Gabriel de Zuloaga had prepared the port defences, and Spanish troops were well-commanded by Captain Don Francisco Saucedo
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline. The musical film was a development of the stage musical after the emergence of sound film technology. Typically, the biggest difference between film and stage musicals is the use of background scenery and locations that would be impractical in a theater. Musical films characteristically contain elements reminiscent of theater, performers often treat their song, in a sense, the viewer becomes the diegetic audience, as the performer looks directly into the camera and performs to it. The 1930s through the early 1950s are considered to be the age of the musical film. Musical short films were made by Lee de Forest in 1923–24, beginning in 1926, thousands of Vitaphone shorts were made, many featuring bands and dancers. The Jazz Singer, released in 1927 by Warner Brothers, was the first to include a track including non-diegetic music and diegetic music.
This feature-length film was a musical, featuring Al Jolson singing Dirty Hands, Dirty Face, Toot, Blue Skies and My Mammy. Historian Scott Eyman wrote, As the film ended and applause grew with the houselights and she saw terror in all their faces, she said, as if they knew that the game they had been playing for years was finally over. Still, only isolated sequences featured live sound, most of the film had only a musical score. In 1928, Warner Brothers followed this up with another Jolson part-talkie, The Singing Fool, theaters scrambled to install the new sound equipment and to hire Broadway composers to write musicals for the screen. The first all-talking feature, Lights of New York, included a sequence in a night club. The enthusiasm of audiences was so great that in less than an all the major studios were making sound pictures exclusively. The Broadway Melody had a plot about two sisters competing for a charming song-and-dance man. Advertised by MGM as the first All-Talking, All-Singing, All-Dancing feature film, it was a hit, there was a rush by the studios to hire talent from the stage to star in lavishly filmed versions of Broadway hits.
The Love Parade starred Maurice Chevalier and newcomer Jeanette MacDonald, written by Broadway veteran Guy Bolton, Warner Brothers produced the first screen operetta, The Desert Song in 1929. They spared no expense and photographed a large percentage of the film in Technicolor and this was followed by the first all-color, all-talking musical feature which was entitled On with the Show
Electric Cinema, Notting Hill
The Electric Cinema is a movie theatre in Notting Hill, and is one of the oldest working cinemas in the country. The Electric Cinema first opened in Londons Portobello Road on 24 February 1910 and was one of the first buildings in Britain to be designed specifically for motion picture exhibition and it was built shortly after its namesake the Electric Cinema in Birmingham, which predates it by around two months. Designed by architect Gerald Seymour Valentin in the Edwardian Baroque style, later, in 1932, the Electric became the Imperial Playhouse cinema, though by this time the Portobello Road area had become rather run down, along with the rest of Notting Hill. Its fortunes however did not improve and thereafter it opened and closed several times without finding commercial success and it closed in 1993 and thereafter began to fall into disrepair. In the late 1990s local property developer European Estates and architects Gebler Tooth, four years of planning followed in which Gebler Tooth developed the plan that would re-establish the commercial viability of the theatre.
The critical element was acquiring the next door which would provide space for greatly upgraded WCs and air conditioning plant. It is a Grade II* Listed building, on 9 June 2012, the building was evacuated due to a fire, and remained closed until it reopened on 3 December 2012
