Introduction
The purpose of this walk is to give you a chance to learn something about the neighborhood where you will be spending your next few months in London. Basically, it involves a rectangle defined by four roads (refer to map): Notting Hill Gate/Bayswater, Queen’s Way, Westbourne Grove, and Pembridge Villas/Pembridge Road. Within these boundaries there are all sorts of interesting little side streets. It is difficult to believe that as recently as the 1960s this upscale segment of London was described as “a massive slum, full of multi-occupied houses, crawling with rats and rubbish”—or that the area was the scene of one of London’s worst race riots; however, such was the case. The name Notting comes from Cnotta’s people. In 1356, this rural backwash appears as Knottynghull. Later, it became famous primarily for its gravel pits (located where Kensington Church Street and Uxbridge road converge). This intersection of roads was considered important enough to merit a tollgate—hence the name Notting Hill Gate. Very early, the tollgate was linked to the village of Kensal by a long farm lane named Puerto Bello, after a fortress captured on the Gulf of Mexico by the British in 1739. It was not until the 1830s that Notting Hill began to emerge as a residential area. Even then it was known either as “the potteries” (because of its proximity to nearby pottery works) or “the Piggeries” (because of its 3–1 ratio of pigs to people). The large number of Welsh names in the district (Chepstow, Denbigh, Ledbury, Pembridge, and Powis) arrived with W.K. Jenkins and his purchase of much of the property in the area. The Hippodrome, a racetrack, was laid out around Notting Hill itself in 1837 (the year of Queen Victoria’s ascendency to the throne), but the ground proved unfit for horse racing, and the Hippodrome closed in 1841. The name of Jack-the-Ripper has become known throughout the world for his heinous murders in Whitechapel during the late Victorian era, but the name of John Christie, “the monster of Rillington Place,” (a serial killer who murdered at least eight women in his home on Rillington Place) remains relatively unknown by most. So heinous were these murders in the 1940s–50s that changing street names and numbers were not sufficient to stem the tide of tourists rushing to see the scene, and the street itself had to be demolished. Over time, any large houses were carved up into multiple dwellings, and by the end of World War II, Notting Hill was little more than a slum area. Peter Rachman, a slumlord of the 1950s–60s, through his practice of charging exorbitant rates for overcrowded hovels, almost single-handedly created a black ghetto in this part of London. Afro-Caribbean emigrants began moving into the area, and in 1958, one of the worst race riots in London’s history erupted. The following year, on the anniversary of the riot, the Notting Hill Carnival was created to address the problems, and since 1965 the festival has emerged into the world’s largest street festival outside of Rio. Each year, during the last week in August, more than one million people converge in this area. Over the past few decades, Notting Hill and the adjoining Bayswater area has moved toward being one of the most upscale areas in which to build or to renovate. Embassy Row (just off Notting Hill Gate) is one of the best examples of this, as is the BYU Centre itself. It is not uncommon for real estate in the area to sell for millions of pounds.
#1 Start: Bayswater to Queensway
Start from the BYU Centre and turn right along Palace Court Road until you come to the end of the street. Turn left and walk along Bayswater Road to Queensway (so named because it was the riding road of Victoria when she lived in Kensington Palace).To your right along this walk you will see Kensington Gardens, the gardens for Kensington Palace. This is one of the benefits of living in this part of London. After you are settled in, you should visit Kensington Gardens and its adjoining Hyde Park, from which Kensington Gardens was divided (see Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park walks).On your left, you will pass a seemingly insignificant piece of property, Orme Square. When Lord Frederic Leighton (see Holland Park walk) first moved to London from the continent, he established his first studio at 2 Orme Square. During Richard Wagner’s sojourn in London, this is where he stayed. And after 1873, when the London Wagner Society was formed, it was headquartered at 12 Orme Square. Farther along, just before you arrive at Queensway, you will come to a café and some shops. I have never found better ice cream in London than that at the Italian ice cream shop here.
#2 Queensway to Westbourne Grove
Turn left on Queensway and make your way along it to Westbourne Grove.Queensway is another famous street in London for tourists, especially if they want to eat out. Besides Soho, it is probably one of the most densely populated restaurant centers of London. You will seldom witness the street without a crowd of people from several nations of the world, day or night. (It is interesting just to walk along and listen to the babel of languages.) Among the eateries here you will find American favorites, including Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Burger King, etc. More importantly, you will discover an outstanding potpourri of Chinese, Italian, Near Eastern, Thai, Indian, and several other kinds of food available. As a rule, most of them are excellent. (To your left, as you move down the street, don’t miss my favorite, Tazas, which is a little hole-in-the-wall Middle Eastern eatery.)Also on your left, you will pass two tube stations: first the Queensway Underground Station and then farther down the street, the Bayswater. This is something of a puzzlement because Bayswater tube stop is on Queensway, and the Queensway tube stop is nearly on Bayswater—but never mind, that’s all part of the fun of London.On your left just after the Bayswater tube stop, you will pass the Bayswater Arms Pub—short for public houses. Pubs are part of the food scene in the UK. Until the end of World War II, they were primarily bars, exclusively for drinking, which they still are at night. However, at noon and the early evening, you can get a fairly decent meal at many of them, and in some you will see families going out to eat in the early evening. Pubs become fairly boisterous at night, however, and I suggest that if you go for a meal that you go for the noon meal or one about five or six o’clock in the early evening, and find better things to do with your time in the evenings. It is interesting while passing them to watch attendance at the pubs at night. If you ever wonder where British rock bands got names such as the Beatles, look to the pubs for their inspiration. Many of them have quite colorful names—Rat and Parrot (unfortunately, now just a memory), The Eagle and Child, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, The Jolly Taxpayer, etc.When you come to Whiteleys (the large store on your left), take time to go in and look around (if construction allows). This used to be a major shopping mall, but is currently under renovation; once done, it will house upscale apartments as well as a movie theatre, restaurants, and shops. Whiteleys was originally one large department store at its inception; it opened in 1863 as London’s first department store, and was established in the present building in 1912. You might also be interested to know that Whiteleys is reputed to have been Adolf Hitler’s favorite building in London, and had he been successful in taking London in World War II, this would likely have been made his headquarters.Directly across from Whiteleys, you will find a post office. I have usually found the lines longer here than on Kensington Church Street, which you will visit later, but there are also more clerks. Next to the Post Office, you will find Boots, the largest of the pharmaceutical chains in England, stocking about the same type of merchandise you would find in a drugstore in the US. You will also discover, if you listen carefully, that the pharmacists are treated almost like doctors in the sense of prescribing medication for ailments. You will also see another Boots down Queensway on the opposite side of the street from Whiteleys. And just further down from Boots and the Post Office is Tesco Express grocery store, one of several grocery stores on Queensway and probably the largest.You may have noticed some shops designated “charity shops.” There are at least two charity shops on Queensway and another that you will pass on Notting Hill Gate. These are a British version of our Deseret Industries. Many of our students have become charity-shop aficionados. I’ve seen some great bargains—shoes, coats, etc.—come out of these shops. You may want to give them a visit. All of the monies go to heart funds, cancer funds, funds for the homeless, etc., so they are all for a good cause. Before you leave London, you will note that the British people are very charity-oriented; you will see collections for various charities all over the city.At last, you will come to Westbourne Grove. Before you get there, however, note the Central Wash Launderette on your right, across the road. Formerly the Brookford Launderette, it lays claim to being the first coin-operated laundromat in the UK.The building far ahead of you at the end of Queensway is the Porchester Centre, which is something of a sports center (indoor swimming, suntanning, etc.). Suntans are something of a new commodity in the Isles. Because of the unpredictability of sunshine in the past, tans were never on the priority list for Brits—you could be cool without one; but that is changing. This center is quite ancient, however, so don’t expect to find the equivalent of the Orem Sports Mall or Gold’s Gym.
#3 Westbourne Grove
Turn left at Westbourne Grove and make your way along that road.If you were to turn right instead of left at this intersection, you would move onto Bishop’s Bridge Road, which would take you into the Paddington area and Paddington Station. I think you would enjoy exploring that area some other time—especially if you are a Paddington Bear fan. Paddington Station is where he was supposedly found.On your left, a short distance along Westbourne Grove, is another of my favorite restaurants, Kahn’s, which specializes in Indian food and advertises, “If you haven’t been to Kahn’s, you haven’t been to London.” Most everyone I know that has been to London has been there. The prices are reasonable, the food excellent, and the service fairly rapid. You will almost always find it crowded, but they move you through quite expeditiously. This is a real favorite with BYU students. There is also a Kahn’s of Kensington by the South Kensington tube stop. There is no administrative connection. The one in South Kensington is a little more upscale in both its menu and its decor, also its prices. You might want to save it for a special occasion.The reason for bringing you down Westbourne is to acquaint you with the realization that there is another shopping area with excellent restaurants (similar to those on Queensway), designer boutiques, specialty shops, and fashionable businesses as well as pharmacies, groceries, newsstands, etc., north of the BYU Centre. Most students find South Kensington High Street to the south, but miss this excellent shopping area that is also relatively nearby. Take note of any of these establishments that you may come back to visit later.
#4 Pembridge Villas Road to Notting Hill Gate
When you arrive at Pembridge Villas road, to your left, turn onto it and follow it as it becomes Pembridge Road and eventually connects with Notting Hill Gate.As you are walking along Pembridge Road, you will pass the southern entrance to Portobello Road on your right. You might want to note this juncture carefully if you intend to come back on a Saturday and shop on Portobello. This is more than just a shopping opportunity, it is a London experience that everyone who visits London should have, and on a Saturday you will get the feeling that all visitors to London, plus a few locals, are there. You are fortunate that you don’t have to ride the crowded public transportation to Notting Hill Gate. Portobello, one mile in length, has been called the World’s Largest Antique Market with over 1,500 dealers at work every Saturday from 8:00 a.m. until about 4:30 p.m. (Arrive early for the best selections.) On the north end of Portobello are food and vegetable stands as well as ethnic food from several nations. This is one of the few areas where you can still hear the “Cockney” fruit vendor ply the trade.Many of the scenes from the film Notting Hill (starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant) were filmed on Portobello, including William’s (Grant’s) bookstore, The Travel Book Co., located where Portobello connects with Westbourne Grove. The scene in which Grant bumps into Roberts and spills orange juice all over her is farther up Portobello, on the corner where it intersects with Westbourne Park Road. Today there is a Coffee Republic store, with the ubiquitous Starbucks just across the road. William’s house with the infamous blue door is farther along at 280 Westbourne Park Road. It is in fact the front door of the house that formerly belonged to the creator of Notting Hill, Richard Curtis.Pembridge Road was the site of the four-day race riots in August 1958. The Notting Hill Carnival takes place for two days throughout this area during the last two weeks in August. The Carnival can become very crowded (estimates run as high as a million participants) and sometimes hostile. (I have seen coaches packed full of police lined up the entire length of Palace Court, just in case their services were suddenly needed.) However, if you don’t mind crowds (and take extra precautions with cameras, wallets/purses, etc.) and leave the streets by 7:00 p.m., when the Carnival officially ends each day, you should be fairly safe.
#5 Notting Hill Tube Station to Notting Hill Gate Road
When you arrive at the Notting Hill Gate tube station, turn left and make your way along Notting Hill Gate Road.To your right at this juncture is a block of shops, but you don’t need to visit them on this walk. Included among these—for your information—is another Tesco grocery (larger than the one on Queensway) and a third Boots, as well as a McDonalds. The Notting Hill Gate tube station, was one of the first underground stations in London. Incidentally, it is also the closest to the BYU Centre by about ten steps (from the front door to the entrance to the tube station). It also offers you the services of the Circle and District lines, as well as the Central Line.Linden Gardens, to your left as you walk along Notting Hill Gate, was the home of William Mulready, a famous Victorian painter who designed the first penny postage envelope while living on that street.On the opposite side of the road as you move along Notting Hill Gate, you will see two cinemas: the Gate Cinema and the Coronet. The Coronet is one of the famous old cinemas in London. It began as a theatre and was converted to its present state in the 1920s. As recently as the 1980s, there was a move to tear it down, but the citizens protested and it still remains. This was the theater that was used for the filming of Notting Hill. Its normal fare resembles that of the International Cinema on campus, i.e., mostly art-oriented cinema. When you go to a show in London, the common practice is to book early, especially if the performance is a popular first run. Unlike the movie houses in the U.S., cinemas here typically book you into a specific seat as they would in a playhouse.Just down Hillgate Street from the Coronet is the Organic Farmer’s Market in the Newcombe Street parking lot behind Waterstones, open every Saturday 9:00 a.m–2:00 p.m. If you are looking for a place to get tasty fresh food—bread, cakes, preserves, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables—on a Saturday, I recommend this market.Waterstones, across the street on your right, is an excellent bookshop, and you can probably get much of what you want in the line of books here. It sits on the corner of the intersection of Notting Hill Gate and Kensington Church Street. Kensington Church Street is one of the major centers of antique stores in this segment of London. There is also a post office on Kensington Church Street (on the left of that street just a few yards from the Barkley Bank)—typically not as crowded as the one on Queensway.As you proceed along the road, you will have seen many shops that will become regular shopping places during your stay. You may sense that you can survive as soon as you see such familiar eating places as KFC’s and Deep Pan Pizza. Some students have chosen to eat at these places, but I recommend you keep these experiences for stateside and try something different in England. Many of our students have enjoyed the food at the Café Diana (named in honor of the former Princess of Wales, whose picture graces their walls). The café was opened during the time that Diana and Prince Charles were living in Kensington Palace. The sandwiches here are typically excellent—especially the chicken tikka masala.At many of these newsstands, which I hope you have noticed carry newspapers from all over the world, you can purchase What’s On in London, a guide to what’s happening in town. I recommend that you purchase a copy at the local newsstands on a weekly basis (share the cost with some of your friends) and make the effort to keep acquainted with all that is going on. So much is taking place that you can fill your time with worthwhile experiences—many of them free. The other weekly, Time Out, is a little more expensive and has longer, detailed articles. I happen to like the format of What’s On better, but that is obviously a personal choice. Both are available online, as well.
#6 Ossington Street to Moscow Road
When you arrive at Ossington Street (on your left) turn left, and move along that road until it connects with Moscow Road. When you get to Moscow Road, turn right and move along that road past Palace Court to your right, and go down to the Greek Orthodox church.You are now moving along the road directly back of the BYU Centre and parallel to Palace Court.If it is open, St. Sophia's Greek Orthodox Church is truly a visual marvel inside, covered as it is with gold overlay. This is really an upper-class church, so don’t bounce in dressed in your grubbies. Notice also the number of Greek establishments in the area. This was an area settled in the early 1800s during the Greek war for independence by expatriates seeking asylum in London.
#7 The End: Return to the BYU Centre
At this point I suggest you turn around and go back to Palace Court and return to the BYU Centre, approaching it from the opposite end of the street that you exited at the first of the walk.If you were to go farther on Moscow Road you would intersect with Queensway at the Rat and Parrot. Some day soon you should come back and wander through the maze of hotels, etc., that are in the area entered by turning left at the road that abuts Moscow at the location of the Greek Orthodox Church. If you go one street to the left from Moscow Road, and then turn right, you will again intersect with Queensway, this time at Whiteleys.
