| Portobella Road 18:03 - May 26 with 5894 views | dmm |
The Pronunciation / pronounciation thread has inspired me to start this one about Portobella Road.
For me, it was the centre of the universe in the late 60s and early 70s. Growing up in Kensal Rise it was easy to get there, and get there I did at every possible opportunity. It had an incredible energy, creativity and rebellion about it which I loved.
I spent most weekends at a shop in Blenheim Crescent, just off the Bella which sold ex-Covent Gardem Theatrical clothes, sort of Beatles Sgt Pepper style. I'd just hang out there as did a bunch of heads, hippies and ne'er-do-wells.
Just over the road was a place I think was called The Dog Shop for some unknown reason. It had an enormous nose above the entrance set in a de rigueur psychedelic mural. It sold joss sticks, patchouli oil and tied dye t-shirts, of course.
Back then the Electric Cinema was nothing like the rather swanky place it is today but an absolute flea pit. I went to see The Yellow Submarine there, sat down only to have the back of the seat give way completely.
Have you got any stories of the Bella, particularly from that time? |  | | |  |
| Portobella Road on 18:21 - May 26 with 4273 views | colinallcars |
There was a v good record shop frequented by, as you say hippies, heads & ne' er do wells plus weekend hippies like me.
Was it Honest John's ? |  | | |
| Portobella Road on 18:30 - May 26 with 4262 views | qpr_1968 |
as a kid in the 60's, me mum and nan would drag us 3 kids up the lane on christmas eve to buy a real christmas tree....
70's was great to be around there as a teenager.....
every fashion going, punks, skinheads, teds, the lot, all into the music scene, a nice little record exchange in goldbourne road where i bought/exchanged vinyl lps and singles, and still got the lot.
pie mash shop near the railway bridge on portobello, everest cafe just off goldbourne road on the portobello.
barnets just around the back of portobello.
drank in the bevington pub, a proper pub that locked us in from 3 til 5'30 when it opened again.
the pelican, all saints road was a good lock in pub as well, mad, but good.
loved the lonsdale as well, up near the antiques section.
plenty of mates worked on the fruit and veg stalls, which a few you probably know as well.
of course the carnival.
many more........ |  |
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| Portobella Road on 18:43 - May 26 with 4230 views | colinallcars |
I saw my first Clapton Is God graffito round there.
As a gittar player meself, I thought one day I'd see Allcars Is God on a wall there but 'twas not to be… | | | |
| Portobella Road on 19:16 - May 26 with 4184 views | TwoHalves |
Seem to remember the enigmatic ‘Who Is Christian Goldman?’ graffiti originated in that part of the world. Still got no idea who he is/was. | | | |
| Portobella Road on 21:32 - May 26 with 4093 views | hantssi |
| Portobella Road on 19:16 - May 26 by TwoHalves |
Seem to remember the enigmatic ‘Who Is Christian Goldman?’ graffiti originated in that part of the world. Still got no idea who he is/was. |
Best bit of graffiti ever was (is?)” M Khan is bent” on a bridge over the North Circular way back in the 70’s and 80’s!
Anybody know who is/was M Khan?! | | | |
| Portobella Road on 21:39 - May 26 with 4079 views | colinallcars |
Back to the hippie years around Portobello, there used to be written on the wall by the tracks leading into Westbourne Park station:
Sleep, tube, work, tube, sleep, tube work tube….how much more can you take ? | | | |
| Portobella Road on 21:40 - May 26 with 4079 views | distortR |
| Portobella Road on 18:43 - May 26 by colinallcars |
I saw my first Clapton Is God graffito round there.
As a gittar player meself, I thought one day I'd see Allcars Is God on a wall there but 'twas not to be… |
Will 'shit but local' do? | | | |
| Portobella Road on 22:15 - May 26 with 4038 views | ted_hendrix |
Used to go there as a nipper on the odd Saturday morning with me Dad In the late 1950's he would let me pick a bag of mixed sweets from one of the sweet stalls, as a nipper back then and from a broken home and being confined to a childrens home you couldn't Imagine the excitement I got from just walking around Portobello Road Street market with me Dad.
Saturday late afternoon I was back In the childrens home. |  |
| My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic. |
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| Portobella Road on 23:22 - May 26 with 3971 views | MrSheen |
Early 80s, alternate Saturdays at Rangers or the Electric Cinema for a triple bill. Maybe a quick look in Rough Trade or the bootleg cassette sellers under the flyover first. |  | | |
| Portobella Road on 10:55 - May 27 with 3780 views | hubble |
My mum used to teach at Colville Infants school just off Portobello Road from around 1966 to 1973, so my brother and I used to meet her there after school and hang out on the Bella. There used to be this amazing kebab shop, possibly in Blenheim Crescent called Louis' kebabs. They were the most delicious things I'd ever tasted. In 1970 my mum got me a Saturday job working out the front of one of those Indian bric-a-brac shops selling tat to tourists. One afternoon a woman ran naked down the lane, I think she was advertising the musical Hair. Caused a bit of a stir.
I absolutely loved it there in the 60s and 70s. My mum's teacher mates lived in the flats in the grand houses with those fantastic communal gardens behind them and there were always big parties there. It was a really mixed and harmonious community (not like it was protrayed in those Small Axe productions by Steve McQueen) and housing was really cheap there in those days.
There was a great bit of graffiti on the tube bridge that runs across the Bella, it said: Guilt is the cop in your head. This was before the Westway was built. I actually remember them building it.
I went to my first carnival with my girlfriend in 1979 and was watching Eddie Grant singing Living on the Frontline on the back of a flatbed truck under the Westway when the SPG in full riot gear charged the crowd, for absolutely no reason whatsoever. They ran past me and my girlfriend, hitting people with batons. It was mental.
In the 80s there were great scenes in the Lonsdale and Finches and in the Globe on Talbot Road for late-night drinking. The Mangrove on All Saints was a great club, even though people were scared of going there. All Saints was a bit hairy I guess, drugs, prostitutes and the rest.
However around 1988 the local police chief, in cahoots with the council and a cabal of developers decided to buy up loads of property cheap and then introduced a zero-tolerance policy to drive out the criminal element. They went totally over the top with it. I remember a copper dragging me out of the Lonsdale by my neck simply because I was still finishing my pint at ten minutes past 11.
After that house prices shot up and that was the beginning of the end for the special community that existed there. But they haven't managed to kill it completely and I still love going down there most weeks, it's only a 15 minute walk from where I live.
[Post edited 27 May 2023 11:37]
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| Portobella Road on 11:26 - May 27 with 3753 views | traininvain |
Enjoyed reading the stories from dmm, hubble and others. Reminded me of the Robert Elms book London Made Us. Well worth reading if you haven’t already. [Post edited 27 May 2023 11:26]
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| Portobella Road on 12:18 - May 27 with 3710 views | dmm |
Love these stories - thanks for posting - and would love to read more.
Traininvain - heartily agree about Robert Elms 'London Made Us'. A thoroughly enjoyable read.
Slightly off topic as this is about Ladbroke Grove. I used to frequent a West Indian 'Blues' after hours club on the Grove in the mid 70s called No Noise. Reggae, curried chicken, rice and peas, and a very stoned 'ambiance'. How they got away with it I've no idea. It was in a basement flat about 300 yards from LG station heading toward Harrow Road. I think I've mentioned it on here before but no one seemed to know of it. If anyone knew of it I'd love to hear. | | | |
| Portobella Road on 14:41 - May 27 with 3622 views | DannyPaddox |
| Portobella Road on 12:18 - May 27 by dmm |
Love these stories - thanks for posting - and would love to read more.
Traininvain - heartily agree about Robert Elms 'London Made Us'. A thoroughly enjoyable read.
Slightly off topic as this is about Ladbroke Grove. I used to frequent a West Indian 'Blues' after hours club on the Grove in the mid 70s called No Noise. Reggae, curried chicken, rice and peas, and a very stoned 'ambiance'. How they got away with it I've no idea. It was in a basement flat about 300 yards from LG station heading toward Harrow Road. I think I've mentioned it on here before but no one seemed to know of it. If anyone knew of it I'd love to hear. |
Was it actually on the Grove or just off on one of the side streets, Oxford, Basset, Chesterton etc? I know a few older heads/ unofficial local historians who would’ve been around the scene back then. I’ll enquire. |  | | |
| Portobella Road on 15:59 - May 27 with 3568 views | Juzzie |
I grew up at the far end (by Ledbury Road) of Colville Terrace which joins Portobello Road so spent most of my first 20 odd years there. Colville School, All Saints Road, The Tabernacle, Barnets, Greenfield/Millets, Woolworths (where I got left outside in my pram for and half an hour before my mum remembered and had to run back to get me), Mickeys Fish and Chip shop (plus the one opposite) Electric Cinema, all the fruit & veg stalls, bought my weekly 2000AD from the paper seller on the junction of Portobello Road/Westbourne Park Road, the Lonsdale pub, Virgin Records (where my Dad worked) in Vernon Yard and right at the far end my Mum had a Saturday stall on Golborne Road selling antiques.
Loved the Carnival during the 70’s and 80’s but wouldn’t go there now. |  | | |
| Portobella Road on 16:52 - May 27 with 3518 views | distortR |
| Portobella Road on 23:22 - May 26 by MrSheen |
Early 80s, alternate Saturdays at Rangers or the Electric Cinema for a triple bill. Maybe a quick look in Rough Trade or the bootleg cassette sellers under the flyover first. |
Yeah, rough trade was a regular destination for me before home matches. | | | |
| Portobella Road on 17:05 - May 27 with 3509 views | Red_Ranger |
| Portobella Road on 11:26 - May 27 by traininvain |
Enjoyed reading the stories from dmm, hubble and others. Reminded me of the Robert Elms book London Made Us. Well worth reading if you haven’t already. [Post edited 27 May 2023 11:26]
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Elms must post on here , surely. | | | |
| Portobella Road on 18:01 - May 27 with 3464 views | hubble |
| Portobella Road on 15:59 - May 27 by Juzzie |
I grew up at the far end (by Ledbury Road) of Colville Terrace which joins Portobello Road so spent most of my first 20 odd years there. Colville School, All Saints Road, The Tabernacle, Barnets, Greenfield/Millets, Woolworths (where I got left outside in my pram for and half an hour before my mum remembered and had to run back to get me), Mickeys Fish and Chip shop (plus the one opposite) Electric Cinema, all the fruit & veg stalls, bought my weekly 2000AD from the paper seller on the junction of Portobello Road/Westbourne Park Road, the Lonsdale pub, Virgin Records (where my Dad worked) in Vernon Yard and right at the far end my Mum had a Saturday stall on Golborne Road selling antiques.
Loved the Carnival during the 70’s and 80’s but wouldn’t go there now. |
You might have been taught by my mum!
I was down the Bella earlier today coincidentally. What a fabulous place it is, heaving with people of all creeds and colours, some fantastic looking women I have to say, amazing styles, food from around the world, secondhand bargains, flash shops, crap shops, something for everyone, and everyone enjoying themselves in the sunshine. Glorious. | |
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| Portobella Road on 18:19 - May 27 with 3441 views | Juzzie |
| Portobella Road on 18:01 - May 27 by hubble |
You might have been taught by my mum!
I was down the Bella earlier today coincidentally. What a fabulous place it is, heaving with people of all creeds and colours, some fantastic looking women I have to say, amazing styles, food from around the world, secondhand bargains, flash shops, crap shops, something for everyone, and everyone enjoying themselves in the sunshine. Glorious. |
Possibly! I was there around 72-73. The only teacher name I remember was miss Saunders but I could be wrong.
We were told not to shimmy along the bars of the roof in the playground but, of course, we did.
I got blisters once doing it and had to go see the nurse. She asked if i’d been shimmying and i said no!
The outside loo’s were rank, can still recall the smell to this day! | | | |
| Portobella Road on 18:35 - May 27 with 3413 views | hubble |
| Portobella Road on 18:19 - May 27 by Juzzie |
Possibly! I was there around 72-73. The only teacher name I remember was miss Saunders but I could be wrong.
We were told not to shimmy along the bars of the roof in the playground but, of course, we did.
I got blisters once doing it and had to go see the nurse. She asked if i’d been shimmying and i said no!
The outside loo’s were rank, can still recall the smell to this day! |
Mate, that was my mum!! How about that. | |
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| Portobella Road on 18:50 - May 27 with 3378 views | Boston |
Almost grew up on the street. My dad, attracted by the stable nature of the work and the large living accommodation that came with it, accepted a job as the maintenance man at the convent. My mother, as religious as she was, didn't like the idea. Convent or not, she was unimpressed with the area, so the old fellah stuck with his position at Vanden Plas in Kingsbury, before going self employed. | |
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| Portobella Road on 19:51 - May 27 with 3303 views | dannyblue |
One thing I love about the bella is the range of prices for mangoes. You can sometimes get 3 for a quid at the stall just up from Tesco, or as my neighbour discovered, you can get 2 for £22 at Natoora. |  | | |
| Portobella Road on 20:18 - May 27 with 3263 views | dmm |
| Portobella Road on 14:41 - May 27 by DannyPaddox |
Was it actually on the Grove or just off on one of the side streets, Oxford, Basset, Chesterton etc? I know a few older heads/ unofficial local historians who would’ve been around the scene back then. I’ll enquire. |
My dear Mr P, thank you. I'm pretty sure it was on the Grove as I described. It had the name 'No Noise' written by hand above the basement window. Any info you might come across would be profusely appreciated. I'll even buy you a large Jameson's  | | | |
| Portobella Road on 20:33 - May 27 with 3251 views | qpr_1968 |
| Portobella Road on 20:18 - May 27 by dmm |
My dear Mr P, thank you. I'm pretty sure it was on the Grove as I described. It had the name 'No Noise' written by hand above the basement window. Any info you might come across would be profusely appreciated. I'll even buy you a large Jameson's |
there was one on the same side as the percy on ladbroke grove, but not as far as the eagle.
roughly in between....and yes, i know the eagle is on the other side.
roy wood out of wizard lived a few doors down from it......the only one i can think of up this end. | |
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| Portobella Road on 21:23 - May 27 with 3178 views | Boston |
| Portobella Road on 20:33 - May 27 by qpr_1968 |
there was one on the same side as the percy on ladbroke grove, but not as far as the eagle.
roughly in between....and yes, i know the eagle is on the other side.
roy wood out of wizard lived a few doors down from it......the only one i can think of up this end. |
...in and out the Eagle
That's the way the money goes
Pop goes the wee..zard. | |
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