[ 700AD-1800 | 1801-1830 | 1830s-1950 | 1950-1970 |1970s-present ]
1970s-present
… and the rise
The area was deemed undesirable as late as the mid 70s, which was news to my father’s family, who’d retained an unbroken presence there since the early 20th Century (and, of course, still do if you count me). All Saints Road was considered particularly rough and many white people would walk down one of the neighbouring streets in preference, although in truth this probably said more about them than the street itself.
Nonetheless Notting Hill had retained a reputation for seediness. What is certain is that through the 70s properties were shabby and unloved, often still packed with sitting tenants and worth very little. I know this for a fact, because my family inherited my great uncle’s estate of four large houses in Notting Hill and one in Dollis Hill. At the time no one had any idea what was to happen and, given that my parents would have been financially responsible for the upkeep of the places, we had no choice but to sell them al for a song. Let’s just say that I paid for a car and a few holidays out of the proceeds. Aaaaarggh!
In spite of, or more likely in part because of the run down nature of Notting Hill it had, over the previous few decades, become a hub of creativity. Of course the area’s incredible racial mix contributed massively to this and still does. By and large, since the riots of 1958, race relations had improved massively. There is evidence for this to be seen all around with first and even second generation mixed race offspring being so common that it long ago ceased to be noteworthy and I’d forgotten al about it till a visitor from America commented on it to me a few years ago.
Carnival is both a catalyst and a symptom of this. The neighbourhood is something of a model of how cooperation can pull an area out of a slump while retaining its diversity and character.
Come to Notting hill!
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