Lucie Loves... London // If you love vintage, you’ll love Notting Hill and Portobello
If you’re thinking about having a wander down *sings* Portobello Road! Portobello Road!
Do it.
Here are a few of my favourites photos from when I took myself and my DSLR camera to Portobello Road Market.
It was Bank Holiday Monday, I was still feeling a little under the weather and needed a pick me up. I decided on some ‘me-time’ (partly because the Tubes were disrupted and I couldn’t get across - easily - to East London to spend the day with my friend Marcos.)
With JMG over 100 miles up north and not available at my disposal, I went for a walk to:
- indulge my senses
- unleash my creativity
- swap my fashion blogger hat for my documentary photographer hat
- satisfy my hunger for a nutella and banana crepe
- be charmed by the many lovely stall holders and folk who greeted me on my journey.
Smiles all round.
If you fancy a visit to Nottinghill and Portobello Road, check out the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea website for more details.
I was quite surprised how quiet the streets were on Bank Holiday Monday. I was expecting Portobello Market and Notting Hill to be heaving with tourists? But no. It wasn’t the usual Euston Station free-for-all I had anticipated. How refreshing.
There are some lovely well-known boutiques like Cath Kidston, along with the likes of All Saints, Kurt Geiger and Religion. However, the beauty of Portobello Market - as it often is with any market - is the joy of the undiscovered. Take a peek at my blog post about my visit to Columbia Road and Broadway Markets - another weekend must-see!
The vintage clothing, 1930s enamelware, old signage, letterpress lettering, old maps, harris tweed, clockmakers, knob shops, art galleries, antique shops, street food and home-made iced lemonade. It’s wonderful.
One of my favourite such shops was Chloe Alberry (pictured above) which featured a vast array of beautiful door furniture, colourful glass bottles, vintage tiles, cabinet hooks and mirrors, and many more curiosities.
To get to Portobello Road, I searched google for directions and quickly realised that my local 295 bus from Hammersmith to Ladbroke Grove would drop me close by, in under 40 minutes.
Check out the TFL website for Tube details on how to get to each of the London Markets.
Photography © Lucie Kerley