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.
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| 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.
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| David Game House |
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| The Coronet Cinema |
In fact a better view of the Coronet was offered by an artist working
'En Plein Air' .
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| 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.]
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| 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.
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| 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 .
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| Amazing opulence - great for an oligarch! |
St Peter's Church Kensington I found to be a bit of an 'eyesore' and rather poorly proportioned.
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| 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)
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| Paul shows the album art work |
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| The Portobello Hotel |
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| 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
.
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| For the vinyl warrior |
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| 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.
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| Was Totobag Club |
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| Powis Terrace |
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| 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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