Kensington & Chelsea
Kensington & Chelsea is London’s smallest borough by area. But it packs a big punch with tourist draws like Portobello Road and a number of museums, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Natural History Museum and Science Museum.
It includes some of London’s wealthiest neighbourhoods, such as Chelsea and Knightsbridge. But 2017’s catastrophic Grenfell Tower fire in North Kensington is a reminder of the borough’s high inequality.
Among the notable figures to have called Kensington & Chelsea home are poet and playwright Oscar Wilde and novelist Agatha Christie. Royals including Princess Margaret and Princess Diana have lived in Kensington Palace.
Up the road from there each August bank holiday, the streets come alive with Notting Hill Carnival. Beginning in 1966 as a celebration of the area’s Caribbean heritage and culture, it has evolved into one of the biggest street parties in Europe and draws millions of visitors each year.
Portobello Road in the Notting Hill area of Kensington & Chelsea
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Brompton Cemetery
A garden cemetery where artists, scientists and a Suffragette lay in peace
Inside the Big Biba department store
Open for just two years, the 1970s flagship shop for this fashion label was a shopper’s paradise
Notting Hill Carnival: Memories, roots & rhythms
Growing up in the 1970s and 80s, Wendy Shearer shares her memories of the Notting Hill Carnival
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A coal man chatting to passers-by on Portobello Road (silver gelatin print)
Mayne, Roger
1956
