Notting Hill

Notting Hill was once the home of London’s original immigrant Caribbean community and a whole lot of London counter-culture.

Like most artistic and cultural hotspots around the world much of what made Notting Hill famous is now long gone. The individual shops have been replaced with bland chains of coffee shops and the impoverished artists and musicians that gave the place its original atmosphere have been moved on to make way for politicians, hedge fund managers and lawyers.

The area itself begins just to the north of Hyde Park and is clustered around the main streets of Ladbroke Grove and Portobello Road and it is here where you will discover most of the bars, restaurants and shops that attract the area’s visitors.

Portobello Market

The market is the main reason for visiting Notting Hill and the best day for doing this is on Saturday when the antiques market at the top of Portobello stretches down to meet the traditional food market and clothes markets at the bottom towards the Ladbroke Grove end of the long winding street.

The Saturday atmosphere along Portobello is one of the few remaining things about this area that hasn’t been dampened by the arrival of so many wealthy residents; you can still pick up a few bargains and watch the world go by over a beer or coffee, and enough people come out of the woodwork to give the impression that the area still retains some of its old charms. Visit it during the week however and the cultural vacuum is much more apparent.

The pubs and bars around Notting Hill are packed full of atmosphere, particularly at the weekends, when the areas young and wealthy residents mix in with the crowds of visitors who flock to the area for the DJ bars and expensive cocktails. But it is the pubs along Portobello Road that offer the best authentic London atmosphere and are great fun on a Saturday afternoon and evening. Make sure that you pop into the Portobello Star (it hadn’t been turned into a Starbucks at the time of writing this article anyway).

Fans of old bric-a-brac should head along Portobello until they reach Goldbourne Road, where furniture hawkers still sell old tables, chairs, cabinets and record players. From here will see a huge tower punching its way up in to the sky, a tower so hideous and ugly that it is actually now considered to be beautiful.

Trellick Tower

This is Trellick Tower, designed and built by Hungarian architect Erno Goldfinger, and one of London’s finest examples of the 1960s architectural style known as Brutalism. So bad was the reputation of this building in the 1980s that anyone visiting would probably have been tempted to make a will before setting off. However, after many years of being hated, Trellick Tower is now better known for having a strong community presence and as being an icon of ‘urban cool’.

The Notting Hill Carnival

This is Europe’s largest street festival attracting around two million visitors over the two days of the August Bank Holiday weekend.

The festival has grown from a handful of revellers in the 1960s to become the huge international event that it is today. It has a procession of floats over the two days following a path around the area with dancers, drummers and musicians being followed by thousands of party goers.

Street Stalls line the procession selling foods and drinks from around the world, while a sound system can be found on almost every corner. The huge crowds mean that it can be very busy and transport in and out of the area can be slow and delayed, but the atmosphere is always great and the people always friendly. It is easily one of London’s best parties.

 
John Hillman