Description
Notting Hill is a district of west London, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, known for pastel-colored terraces, an antiques market, an August carnival and a romantic comedy. It is multicultural and fashionable, with big Victorian townhouses and independent shops.
The star is Portobello Road, which runs almost the whole length of the district. Its market is one of London's best known, with an antiques section, second-hand stalls, clothes and fruit and vegetables.
The Notting Hill Carnival is a Caribbean street festival held every year over two days in August (the Sunday and the bank holiday Monday). It began in 1965 and has drawn up to 1.5 million people, among the largest street festivals in Europe.
Then walk the side streets. The stucco-fronted houses with pillared porches around Pembridge Place and Dawson Place, and the grand terraces of Kensington Park Gardens, are what the district is known for. Westbourne Grove and Ledbury Road have the shops and restaurants.
Ladbroke Square, London's largest private garden square, is one of the communal gardens hidden behind the terraces. They are private, but the houses around them are the reason the district looks the way it does.
A racecourse once ran around the hill. The Hippodrome opened in 1837, but the heavy clay turned its track into a bog, and a public footpath ran right across it. It closed in 1841, and the district's curving crescents were built over its tracks.
Until the 19th century this was countryside, known for its potteries and pig farms. Then the Ladbroke family laid out streets of grand houses around private communal gardens. Ladbroke Grove still bears their name.
The 20th century was harder. The big houses were split into cheap rooms, and the Caribbean immigrants who arrived in the 1950s faced slum landlords and, in 1958, race riots. Since 1965 their community has led the carnival.
Gentrification did the rest, and in 1999 the film Notting Hill, with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, made it famous worldwide.
The star is Portobello Road, which runs almost the whole length of the district. Its market is one of London's best known, with an antiques section, second-hand stalls, clothes and fruit and vegetables.
The Notting Hill Carnival is a Caribbean street festival held every year over two days in August (the Sunday and the bank holiday Monday). It began in 1965 and has drawn up to 1.5 million people, among the largest street festivals in Europe.
Then walk the side streets. The stucco-fronted houses with pillared porches around Pembridge Place and Dawson Place, and the grand terraces of Kensington Park Gardens, are what the district is known for. Westbourne Grove and Ledbury Road have the shops and restaurants.
Ladbroke Square, London's largest private garden square, is one of the communal gardens hidden behind the terraces. They are private, but the houses around them are the reason the district looks the way it does.
A racecourse once ran around the hill. The Hippodrome opened in 1837, but the heavy clay turned its track into a bog, and a public footpath ran right across it. It closed in 1841, and the district's curving crescents were built over its tracks.
Until the 19th century this was countryside, known for its potteries and pig farms. Then the Ladbroke family laid out streets of grand houses around private communal gardens. Ladbroke Grove still bears their name.
The 20th century was harder. The big houses were split into cheap rooms, and the Caribbean immigrants who arrived in the 1950s faced slum landlords and, in 1958, race riots. Since 1965 their community has led the carnival.
Gentrification did the rest, and in 1999 the film Notting Hill, with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, made it famous worldwide.