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The Drones Club is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. The Drones Club is in Mayfair, London, located in Dover Street, off Piccadilly. A drone being a male bee that does no work, living off the labour of others, it aptly describes the contemporary Edwardian stereotype of rich, idle young club members, although some members had useful occupations. Pongo Twistleton, for example, was reading for the Bar, and other members were mentioned as holding down jobs.
Wodehouse based the Drones Club on a combination of three real London clubs: the Bachelors' Club (which existed around the turn of the century), Buck's Club (established 1919), and a dash of the Bath Club for its swimming pool's ropes and rings. The fictional Drones barman, McGarry, has the same surname as the Buck's first bartender, a Mr McGarry (Buck's barman from 1919 to 1941, credited with creating the Buck's Fizz and Sidecar cocktails). However Evelyn Waugh declared that the Drones did not resemble any real club in 1920s London.
Members of the Drones take part in a number of sporting events ranging from darts, fat uncle contests to an annual golf rally. Whilst at a Drones Club weekend in Le Touquet, France, where about 87 members were said to be present a cricket team was formed led by Bertram "Bertie" Wooster as captain.
The Drones XI
1. Ronald Eustace Psmith. An Old Etonian and something of a dandy,known to wear monocle at the crease. A close friend of "Mike" Jackson.
Cpt. Bertram Wilberforce. "Bertie" Wooster. An Old Etonian further educated at Magdalen College, Oxford. An English Gentleman,
3. Cyril "Barmy" Fotheringay-Phipps. Gentleman and member of the Drones Club with an interest in the theatrical world.
4. Alexander Charles "Oofy" Prosser. The most wealthy and envied member of the Drones Club.
5. Montague "Monty" Bodkin. A wealthy young member of the Drones Club, tall, slender and lissom, well-dressed, well-spoken and impeccably polite.
6. Richard P. "Bingo" Little, Lord of Bittlesham. A long time friend of "Bertie" Wooster. An Old Etonian and Graduate of Oxford.
Wkt. Claude Cattermole "Catsmeat" Potter-Pirbright. A member of the Drones Club and a longtime school friend "Bertie" Wooster.
8. Archibald Mulliner. A capeable cricketer but his primary talent is a masterful impression of a hen laying an egg.
9. The Honourable Frederick Threepwood. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth.
10. Reginald "Pongo" Twistleton. A member of the Drones Club in London, he's a close friend of "Barmy" Fotheringay-Phipps.
11. Hildebrand "Tuppy" Glossop. Of Scottish origin he is a member of the Drones Club and friend of "Bertie Wooster".
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