Notting Hill

Notting Hill is a district of London located to the west of the centre and close to the north-western corner of Hyde Park. It lies within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Character

Notting Hill has a reputation as an affluent and fashionable area, known for attractive terraces of large Victorian townhouses, and high-class shopping and restaurants (particularly around Westbourne Grove). However it has an equally thriving "alternative" culture, exemplified by the numerous second-hand music stores around Notting Hill Gate.

Related Topics:
Victorian - Westbourne Grove - Notting Hill Gate

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Notting Hill is particularly known as the location for the annual Notting Hill Carnival, which takes place in August. This is a huge street festival and celebration of Caribbean culture, centred on parades of elaborately costumed dancers and colourfully decorated floats. The Carnival was originally established in the 1960s as a positive response to tensions between the recently arrived immigrant community and the majority community, culminating in the Notting Hill race riots.

Related Topics:
Notting Hill Carnival - Caribbean - Notting Hill race riots

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Notting Hill is also home to the Portobello Road antique market, which has become a major London tourist attraction. The market takes place each Saturday and attracts both antique buyers and sellers and tourists. In recent years the growth of the market and increasingly touristic feel have led some to claim that quality has declined.

Related Topics:
Portobello Road - Antique

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The area came to international attention with the release of the successful Hollywood movie of the same name. Notting Hill stars Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant and uses characteristic features of the area as a backdrop to the action, including the Portobello Road antiques market and enclosed square gardens. The shop in which the Hugh Grant character works is, in real life, a well-known Notting Hill bookshop.

Related Topics:
Notting Hill - Julia Roberts - Hugh Grant - Square gardens

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