Thursday, June 07, 2018

Notting Hill Gate - Last Village (for a while)

The last London Village for a while (I'm back with Paul Sinclair's More London Villages in a few weeks) and this week it was all about the area of West London that's Notting Hill Gate.

The Iconic roundel 

We met at Pembridge Gardens adjacent to the underground station.

One of the architectural landmarks , David Game House (said to be a fine example of Bauhaus architecture) is completely shrouded in scaffolding and although still visible the nearby Coronet cinema is undergoing refurbishment too.

David Game House 

The Coronet Cinema













In fact a better view of the Coronet was offered by an artist working 'En Plein Air' .

A lovely day to be working outside 
Next on to an other architectural (but smaller) point of note the Green shelters used by Cabbies.
[You can find out more about them here.]




Cabman's Shelters used to be a place to rest and snack





Now a cafe 'The Queen Elizabeth Laundry' seems something of an anachronism - presumably not where our own queen gets her washing done it's a cafe now.


A Cafe now





There are some fine looking houses in the area many are now multiple dwellings and have been turned into flats.


The area had been a racecourse (Kensington Hippodrome), it had been intended to rival Epsom and Ascot  for some time but was not successful  .






Amazing opulence - great for an oligarch!

St Peter's Church Kensington I found to be a bit of an 'eyesore' and rather poorly proportioned.

St Peter's Church- not my cup of tea


Nearby was the location of a 1970's classic album cover - The Portobello Hotel where Carly Simon was photographed for the 'No Secrets' album (that included You're so Vain)

Paul shows the album art work




















The Portobello Hotel

A right olkd mixture
We then saw some of the area used by the Portobello Market - which I've visited a few times as a 'volunteer street photographer' .

The sellers offer a mixture of curios, collectables and 'tat' as well as some fruit and veg
.

For the vinyl warrior

Fresh fruit- Fresh Fruit














London's Notting Hill is associated with the 1950's wave of immigration and slum landlords - riots started here in Totobag riots started and nearby the Powis Terrace is a reminder of Peter Rachman (his name  became a shorthand  for poor landlord) but he was also a name in the Profumo Scandal of the 60's.


Was Totobag Club
Powis Terrace
Tabernacle and a hot drink 
 We even stopped on this walk for a hot drink and the chance to fill out the obligatory course paper work at a former church The Tabernacle before making our way to Ladbroke Grove station (where I was on Tuesday - more about that later)





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