portobello rd market in notting hill, london

Posted January 16, 200916 yr

we went to the famous portobello road market in the notting hill neighborhood of london 12/27/08.

it's a nice enough way to spend a saturday morning on a london visit (although i'd recommend camden instead if you are under age 30).

wiki sez:

Portobello Road Market draws tourists. The main market day for antiques is Saturday. However, there are also fruit and vegetable stalls in the market, which trade throughout the week and are located further north than the antiques, near the Westway Flyover.

The market began as a fresh-food market in the nineteenth century; antiques dealers arrived in the 1960s.

Portobello Road & Market in the Media

The market was featured in the 1971 musical film, Bedknobs and Broomsticks in a scene involving a song and dance in and around the market. The lyrics refer to the market and the people who live and work there.

In 1978, the rock band Dire Straits sang about the road in the song "Portobello Belle" on their second album Communiqué.

It is also referenced in the song "Blue Jeans" by alternative rock band Blur, from the 1993 album Modern Life Is Rubbish, in which the opening lyrics are "Air cushioned soles, I bought them on the Portobello Road on a Saturday.."

The cult British character Paddington Bear, featured in the books written by Michael Bond, enjoys visiting Portobello Market on a daily basis. His friend Mr. Gruber owns an antique shop on the Portobello Road, with whom Paddington has his elevenses every day.

The board game Portobello Market is named after this market.

BBC One's daytime antiques-based gameshow Bargain Hunt regularly features contestants buying items at the market to later sell at auction.

Perhaps it is most recognizable as the setting for the 1999 film Notting Hill, with much of the filming taking place on the street. The famed blue door, however, no longer exists, having been sold.

In 2006, the 20 minute documentary "Portobello: Attack of the Clones" won London awards and was screened a number of times at the infamous Electric Cinema. The film showed how Portobello Road is threatened by high-street stores changing the street's independent spirit. It featured a large number of local stallholders and influencers, and was made by local filmmakers Paul McCrudden and Alex Thomas for TAG Films.

westbourne grove rd is notting hill’s chi-chi high street

History

Origin of the Notting Hill name

The origin of the name "Notting Hill" is uncertain though an early version appears in the Patent Rolls of 1356 as Knottynghull, while an 1878 text, Old and New London, reports that the name derives from a manor in Kensington called "Knotting-Bernes,", "Knutting-Barnes," or "Nutting-barns,” and goes on to quote from a court record during Henry VIII's reign that "the manor called Notingbarons, alias Kensington, in the parish of Paddington, was held of the Abbot of Westminster". It is thought likely that the "Nott" section of the name is derived from the Saxon personal name Cnotta, with the "ing" part generally accepted as coming from the Saxon for a group or settlement of people.