My advise to start top this route: walk along HOLLAND PARK ROAD or cycle along LADBROKE ROAD!
Notting Hill Gate
A TURNPIKE road
A turnpike gate was constructed at the foot of the hill on the main road from London to Uxbridge, now Oxford Street, Bayswater Road and Holland Park Avenue along this part of its route.
Turnpike roads were toll roads, maintained and operated by trusts established by Parliament, primarily during the 18th and 19th centuries, to facilitate long-distance travel and commerce The turnpike system played a significant role in improving transportation, promoting urbanisation, and contributing to economic growth,
The rise of railways in the 19th century led to the decline of the turnpike system, as railways offered a faster and more efficient means of transportation. The network of roads established by turnpike trusts still forms the framework of Britain's roadways today.
No. 21. NOTTING HILL ARTS CLUB
THE GATE CINEMA
The cinema first opened its doors on 15 April 1911 as the Electric Palace, with capacity for 480 patrons (280 seated and a further 200 standing!). The floor plan of the cinema was not dissimilar to that of today, except the foyer stretched down the side of the building. It later became The Embassy, and in 1931 was one of the first British cinemas to convert fully to sound. During the Second World War, the ornate exterior was severely damaged and subsequently replaced with a plain façade and a flat roof.
Since the 1950s the venue has steadily built a reputation as the place to see avant-garde and experimental cinema alongside repertory art-house programmes. With new ownership in 1974 came the change of name to The Gate. In 2003 the cinema joined the Picturehouse family and in 2004 it received a full refurbishment. The lobby retains its Cinema 100 plaque
THE CORONET THEATRE
In 2020, the theatre was redecorated and a statue by the British sculptor Gavin Turk (born 1967) has been placed upon the dome above the building’s main entrance. The new artwork replaces one that was removed many decades ago.” The artwork depicts the artist Gavin Turk posing as the famous artist Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) just as he appears his sculptural in the Annenberg Courtyard of Burlington House in the grounds of the Royal Academy. When seen from the east, the new sculpture looks like a painter holding a palette and his brush. However, when seen from the west, the viewer might be led to believe that the statue is of a man holding a gun.
This was a cinema, the cinema where William watched the sci-fi movie ‘Helix’ that starred Anna Scott.
130 NOTTING HILL GATE. Site of RICHARD BRANSON 3rd VIRGIN RECORD shop
Promotion of the album“Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols” . Richard Branson poses with a placard “Cold Sex Pistols ice cream”.
Police raid. Branson won. A university professor testified in court that "bollocks" was an old term referring to 18th-century priests or nonsense, rather than testicles.
Alleyway (for Ladbroke Road), right turn into Victoria Gardens
Artist: Barney McMahon
REGENCY HOUSES
CAROLINE DECAMP and TONY BENN lived here
Educationalist and writer. Born Cincinnati, Ohio. She came to Britain in 1948 to study at Oxford. There she met Tony Benn, who became her husband. An advocate of comprehensive education, she co-founded the Campaign for Comprehensive Education. Her writings include a biography of the Labour pioneer Keir Hardie. Died at Charing Cross Hospital.
TONY BENN
Peerage Act (1963): Benn successfully campaigned for the right to renounce hereditary peerages, allowing him to remain in the House of Commons after inheriting his father’s title. This marked a landmark change in British law.
Labour Government Roles: He served as Postmaster General (1964–66). BT TOWER, built. Minister of Technology (1966–70), Secretary of State for Industry (1974–75), and Secretary of State for Energy (1975–79), where he championed public ownership and industrial democracy.
Advocacy for Democratic Socialism: Benn was a leading figure on Labour’s New Left, promoting participatory democracy, workplace self-management, and public ownership. He opposed Thatcherism and New Labour’s centrist policies.
Support for Workers: He backed initiatives like the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders’ “work-in,” advocating for workers’ rights and control over industries.
Diaries and Legacy: Benn documented his political life extensively, producing influential diaries. Once labeled “the most dangerous man in Britain,” he later became a respected elder statesman of the left.
P.D.JAMES lived here
Phyllis Dorothy James was born in Oxford. Best known for her crime novels, many of them featuring the detective Adam Dalgliesh. Created Baroness James of Holland Park in 1991. She died in 2014.
THE MITRE PH.
Statue of ST.VOLODYMYR
EMBASSY of UKRAINE
HOLLAND PARK (district)
Along Ladbroke Road
The RAMBERT DANCE COMPANY has its origins here
BOWDEN COURT
Built as a "young ladies" residence by Bradley's, the furriers.
It was used as a "wrennery" (wrens' quarters) during WWII. The Women's Royal Naval Service was formed in 1917. With the initials WRNS, they quickly became known as the Wrens and they made a significant contribution to both the First and Second World Wars. The WRNS remained an important part of the armed forces until it became amalgamated with the Royal Navy in 1993.
Later a civil service hostel. Now, a hostel
Former POLICE STATION
On Ladbroke Rd.
Former FIRE STATION
THE LADBROKE ARMS PH.
Cross over Lansdowne Road
LANSDOWNE HOUSE
An incredible Arts and Crafts assemblage by the architect William Flockhart dating from the start of the twentieth century. Flockhart was also the architect of a similarly impressive shopfront at 180 New Bond Street.
Constructed as purpose-built studios and residences for artists, the eight storey building was occupied by numerous creative types as recorded by the blue plaque on the side elevation. It is imaginatively sculpted: with projecting corner bays, stepping gable ends, generous irregular balconies, arches and windows of a wide variety of sizes, particularly large on the north elevation – which is perhaps where the studios were located.
Later on, the building housed the recording studios for the likes of Queen, Shirley Bassey and John Lennon.The building is now subdivided into flats and is Grade 2 listed.
SKIFFLE here!: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lansdowne_Studios
Lansdowne Walk
No. 19 THE COSMIC HOUSE
The Cosmic House (originally known as the Thematic House) is a Grade I-listed postmodernist masterpiece located at 19 Lansdowne Walk near Notting Hill/Holland Park in West London. Built between 1978 and 1983, it was designed by the influential architectural historian and critic Charles Jencks alongside his wife, garden designer Maggie Keswick Jencks, and architect Sir Terry Farrell. Constructed as a physical manifesto of Post-Modern architecture, the house is heavily saturated with complex iconography, wordplay, and symbols linking human culture to cosmology.
Back to the o original NOTTING HILL, alongside the N side of Holland Park Avenue
Shops and eateries
Norlands Conservation Area
Norland Square
The name of the sqarden square, as well as the nearby Norland Place and Norland Road, come from the Norland Estate which is the historic name for the farmlands in the northern part of Kensington Parish. It was designed by architect and property developer Robert Cantwell, who laid out the area in 1837, and was constructed during the early Victorian era. Cantwell also oversaw the almost contemporaneous Royal Crescent, which was likewise developed from the old Norland Estate. Since the 1820s, Cantwell had been involved in development plans for the larger Ladbroke Estate to the north.[4
Alongside Queensdale Rd.
Addison Ave.
Named after the early 18th-century writer and politician Joseph Addison who lived at nearby Holland House. The Holland Estate was gradually redeveloped for housing although Addison Avenue was actually built on the adjacent Norland Estate. It was developed during the 1840s by the architect and property developer . It was designed with a vista towards St James' Church
St.James’s Gardens
ST.JAMES’S NORLANDS Church
A detour, further West
HOLLAND PARK SYNAGOGUE
It was founded in the early 20th century by a community of Sephardi Jews who had come to England to better themselves economically when they foresaw the decline of the Turkish Empire.
They lived first in the City of London and gradually made their way west as more and more families arrived, mainly from Salonika in Greece and Constantinople (now Istanbul) in Turkey.
St.Ann’s Villas (road)
The land was part of the Norland Estate which was redeveloped in the early Victorian era into affluent housing for the expanding population of London. Addison Avenue and Norland Square were both laid out around the same time as St Ann's Villas. The barrister and former Member of Parliament for Penryn Charles Stewart was heavily involved in the development.
The southernmost stretch of St Ann's Villas continued the original style of Robert Cantwell but on reaching Queensdale Road the architectural style changes. Built as semi-detached villas in the Tudor Gothic style, it provides a distinct contrast to the rest of the estate, which uses white stucco terracing. A number of the buildings are now Grade II listed.The music hall performer Albert Chevalier was born in the street in 1861 and is now commemorated by a blue plaque.
The name may refer to a planned but never built St Ann's Church for the new development. Instead the church serving the new district St James' Church was located in the nearby St James' Gardens.
The street continues north as St Ann's Road for some distance, then becomes Bramley Road shortly before reaching Latimer Road tube station. Also first laid out in the Victorian era, very few of the original buildings now survive.
Royal Crescent
Designed in 1839, The Royal Crescent is one of the most architecturally interesting Nineteenth Century developments in Holland Park. Evidently inspired by its older namesake in Bath, it differs from the Bath crescent in that it is not strictly a true crescent but rather two quadrant terraces each terminated by a circular bow in the Regency style, rising as a tower, a feature which would not have been found in the earlier classically inspired architecture of the 18th century which the design of the crescent seeks to emulate. The plan of the Royal Crescent was the design of the planner Robert Cantwell, and it was the need for the newly fashionable underground sewers which caused the crescent to be designed in two halves rather than any consideration for architectural aesthetics. On early maps it is marked as Norland Crescent.[1]
The stucco fronted crescent is painted white, in the style of the many Nash terraces which can be seen elsewhere in London's smarter residential areas. Today many of these four storey houses have been converted to apartments, although a few remain as private houses.
Behind the terraces is the Royal Crescent Mews. The Mews is a part-cobbled cul-de-sac off Queensdale Road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It contains 34 properties used for residential purposes. It is part of Kensington's Norland Conservation Area; first designated in 1969, it contains Royal Crescent, Norland Square and St. James's gardens. Building of the area began in the 1840s and was completed just fifteen years later. It contains linked terraces and is largely urban in style
St. Ann’s Rd.
St.James’s Gardens
Former WEST LONDON TABERNACLE, now ISLAMIC UNIVERSAL ASSOCIATION
Originally erected in the 1860′s by Mr Varley, a Baptist businessman who wanted to preach in the neighbouring Potteries, it was later used as an industrial warehouse.
In the last 20 years it has found a new religious use, as an Iranian Shia Mosque and the headquarters of the Islamic Universal Association.
(Penzance Place)
Penzance St.
1996. OSSIE CLARK, murdered.
By the late-seventies, his fortunes went into a downward spiral. Never a good businessman, Clark now found his clothes decidedly unfashionable. The Kings Road was now enthralled with the punk revolution and its accompanying homemade fashion.
By 1983 he was declared bankrupt after the Inland Revenue claimed 14 years of back tax. He lost his house and had to live with friends until, eventually, the DHSS re-housed him in a small council flat in Penzance Street, Holland Park.
In 1995 Clark invited 27-year-old Italian Diego Cogalato to move into his one-bedroomed council flat. Just eighteen months later – on 7 August 1996 – Cogolato called 999 and said to the operator “I think I’ve killed someone”.
David Hockney’s famous painting Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy was given to Ossie and Celia as a wedding present. Ossie, later in his life and needing the money, sold it to the Tate Gallery for just seven thousand pounds. It is now one of the most famous British painting and worth millions.
Former EARL OF ZETLAND P. H.
The Earl of Zetland, pub in Notting Hill, located at 116 Princedale Road, is permanently closed. Now a mixed-use building with offices and a flat. The pub was known for its well-kept beer and was a Charrington local. It was also featured in Michelangelo Antonioni's film "Blow Up".
À prominent nobleman, Whig MP, and the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England (Freemasons) from 1844 to 1870. A massive advocate for thoroughbred racing, his horse Voltigeur won both the Derby and the St Leger in 1850.
Notting Dale
The site was formerly agricultural land belonging to two farms, Notting Barns and Portobello, together covering 400 acres (160 hectares). The area then went through several industrial stages, such as pottery, before becoming overrun with pig farming and other "noxious" trades, all of whom were required to move out from their former inner city locations. This gave rise to area's nickname of "The Pigs and the Potteries".[3] The area became known for appalling living conditions; in the mid-19th century, it fell into disuse and disrepair.[4] By the late 19th century Notting Dale began to be developed for residential purposes, and also became known for its Irish Gypsy community.[3][5] It is now home to a mix of public and private housing.
A BOTTLE KILN. THE POTTERIES and THE PIGGERIES
London is built of clay bricks, made from the clay soil on which London is built. Highbury Wildlife Garden has a map showing the extent of the clay under this part of England. So wherever some development was taking place brick 'factories' would be set up where the clay was near the surface. The clay was dug out and shaped into bricks which were laid out to dry and then fired in a kiln. On London Remembers we already have references to the Somers Town brick kilns and Kiln Lane in Highgate. But this is the first surviving kiln that we have seen in London. Londonist have a good post on London bricks.
In the 18th c. the first brick makers were established here. Tiles and pottery were manufactured here later on. They were mainly Irish labourers (from the same extraction of those building the canals, the Navvies)
Then, 19th c. Pig keepers came and set up business in the area. Other occupations were chimney sweeps and violin makers
First the population was mostly honest and industrious, but then acquired a reputation of less honesty. Dubious characters.
Some were people made homeless from elsewhere due to slum clearances.
A shanty town, no building controls. 1849. Cholera outbreaks were frequent..
A plague spot, according to CH. DICKENS, who raised awareness: SILVER STREET CHAPEL and HORNTON STREET CONGREGATION. MOTHERS’ SOCIETY started by MARY BAYLEY
Articles by WH WILLS
When railways arrived the area started to receive attention.
Pigs removed in 1878. First drainage. Improved housing.
Now, the kiln is a focal point of MICHAEL BROWN ASSOCIATES’ development
1893.The West End Avernus
The site of the “Ocean”, now AVONDALE PARK
Excavations to extract earth gave way to lakes of stagnant water. Refuse and offal for feeding the pigs dumped in the lake. Humans, living in shacks , and sharing with pigs
The OCEAN was one of the lakes, covering nearly 1 acre. Stinking slurry. Clay sludge. Pigswill
From RBKC: "Avondale Park, at the top of Pottery Lane, was created in 1892 when the area that had been a huge fetid pool known as "the ocean" was finally built on. This former area of slurry was part of the notorious Piggeries as well as the location of tile kilns and brickfields. The site was purchased from the Adams family in 1889, and after the excavations, seven feet in depth, had been filled in, the park was formally opened on 2 June 1892. It was called Avondale Park in memory of the recently deceased Duke of Clarence and Avondale."And then in 1909 Mayor Robson gave the section north of the tennis courts.
Detour: North West of here
Conservation Area
Railways, a new boundary
NW of the LADBROKE ESTATE
One of the most degraded places of the metropolis.
CHARLES BOOTH. Disreputable classes, beggars, tramps, thieves. High mortality rates.
Now, HENRY DICKENS CT, AVONDALE PARK
Former ST.MARY’S MISSION HALL, artists studios?
Homes for the heroes: social housing
Walmer Road
WALMER YARD. Arch.PETER SALTER
LATIMER ROAD LU Station
1958. Incidents that sparked the riots
Site of RILLINGTON PLACE
JOHN CHRISTIE
Independent REPUBLIC OF FRESTONIA
Houses in Freston Road were squatted for four years before the idea for a declaration of independence was floated. Drawn up by Nick Albery-a cultural agitator and, later, a Green Party candidate-the inspiration was the classic 1949 comedy Passport to Pimlico, in which an unexploded WWII bomb detonates, exposing an old document that declares Pimlico to be part of Burgundy and its residents honorary “Burgundians”-an identity they take to with determined, drunken relish.
The GLC decided that they were going to kick out all the dirty squatters, knock down the housing, and leave a field of rubble,” says Tony. “We weren’t very happy about that. There was no plan, no greater scheme for building alternative housing. They just wanted to clear the site.
“Nick was the father of the whole idea, along with David Rappaport and Heathcote Williams. There was also a chap called Mick Saunders who wrote Alternative London, a countercultural compendium of all the stuff that was happening in the 1970s. Those four cooked up the idea. They rented a 16-mm copy of Passport to Pimlico, set up a local screening for anyone who wanted to watch it, and said, ‘Shall we do this?’ And everybody said, ‘Well, yes, I suppose we could.’ It was an expedient response, one that came out of threat. But it was also a great bit of theater, and fantastic PR.”
On October 31, 1977, independence was declared. Thanks to the subsequent media attention, the GLC found it more difficult than ever to broach the subject of full-scale demolition. The head of the GLC, Sir Horace Cutler, wrote a letter to the residents stating that “if you didn’t exist, it would be necessary to make you up.” Nick Albery responded, “Since we do exist, why is it necessary to destroy us?”
GRENFELL
Sitting in the middle of an area with some of the highest property prices in Britain, Grenfell Tower was an indelible blot on the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s Conservative Council and its vision for the area. It had tried to rehouse its working-class and ethnic minority residents for years with tempting offers of flats outside London in places such as Reading. It had ignored the residents’ complaints about the lack of fire extinguishers, sprinklers as well as faulty lifts and lack of accessible exits. In response, the Grenfell Action Group was formed. In 2013, the council threatened legal action, saying that the group’s online posts demanding action amounted to defamation and harassment.
In January 2016, the group warned that, in the event of a fire in the tower block, they would “do everything in our power to ensure that those in authority know how long and how appallingly our landlord has ignored their responsibility to ensure the heath and safety of their tenants and leaseholders”.
Back to the regular route
Princedale Road
No. 50 Former RELEASE HQ (Help and advise, on drugs)
The social welfare agency, Release., was founded in 1967 by the eccentric Caroline Coon and Rufus Harris had its first office here
Prior to this established location, Release operated much differently as it was a 24-hour telephone. However, this location on Princedale load shows its growth in the hippy and underground culture. In addition to interference with the government's militaristic ideals through public and active protests, Release represented political interference. The voluntary organization's core goal was to provide individuals charged with drug related crimes, relief and connect them with lawyers.[1] Youths with drug addictions and criminalized hippies with pot charges were amongst Release's main concern. Drugs were highly utilized in the underground sphere, leading to stigmatization and charges for drug possession which were steep. Notably illegal drugs were not common in London until 1959 when counterculture movements began to utilize and celebrate cannabis usage.[2] Released advertised itself to hippies both in the media and at local rallies for marijuana decriminalization, reaching the people who would most likely require Releases' assistance.[3] Two years following Release's start, it assisted in 2,000 cases with an 85% success rate.[4] Caroline Coon and Rufus Harris opted to provide the accused with legal advice and legal resources with a 24-hour telephone line, as Coon explained that she "knew that Release had to be 24 hours because police were busting youths in the middle of the night."[5] Due to the voluntary nature of Release, it required outside funding to maintain operations. Notably, these donations were acquired from prominent members of alternative lifestyles, such as John Lennon and Yoko Ono who simultaneously utilized Release for their own drug related case. In addition to providing relief for those accused of drug possession, Release maintained a implicit message. This message was a blunt critique of harsh government drug policy and its intolerance.[6]
Victorian terraces, pastel-coloured .
Princedale Road in London is notable for being the location of the first office of the Release social welfare agency, founded in 1967 by Caroline Coon and Rufus Harris.. In the 1960s, Princedale Road was a center for the counterculture scene, and it has since evolved into a mix of residential and commercial properties near Holland Park. The road's past includes housing the White Defence League, a radical far-right group, before the counterculture movement took hold
No.52 Basement. Former HQ of OZ, underground publication
The road also housed the offices of OZ magazine, a counterculture publication, and was a hub for alternative artThe Underground Magazine That Sparked the Longest Obscenity Trial in British History