London Districts: Notting Hill (Documentary)

This episode ventures to the London district of 'Notting Hill'. Watch #LondonDistricts episodes on TV with bonus content @ Sky 117, Freeview 8, Virgin Media 159 and YouView 8 via London Live.

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Episode transcription (truncated):

Just 50 years ago, Notting Hill was a no-go area, crawling with rats and rubbish before becoming the affluent district of West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea that we know today.

The earliest recorded mention dates back to 1356 in the patent rolls taking the form of “Knottynghull” which is said to be a Viking word and that would make it at least 100 years old.

Portobello Road is a tourists dream forming the heart of Notting Hill which started as a mere country path linking the gravel pits together. From 1875, gypsies/Roma bartered wares from carts and the market then truly kicked off once trading hours were extended in 1927. An antique shop introduced into the Red Lion Arcade made the street 'an international institution'. It’s named after a mid-1700’s British Navy war victory capturing a profitable port of Panama called Puerto Bello that traded large amounts of treasure with Spain.

Locals mostly, will take advantage of produce, meat, fish and baked food in the weekdays but the market extends itself quite a lot at the weekend to incorporate antique and souvenir vendors; an effective tourist magnet probably bolstered by the countless film and TV references of this street alone some of which were shown in its own Electric Cinema, one of the first purpose-built cinema’s in the country.

Three years after World War Two, Labour introduced The 1948 British Nationality Act, making it law for any Commonwealth citizen to acquire full rights of settlement in the UK. They actively encouraged immigration from its colonies to help rebuild the Mother Country.

The Notting Hill slums facilitated the availability of low-paid menial jobs and cheap accommodation for newly arrived Caribbeans when elsewhere they’d be met with window adverts displaying the sign ‘no blacks, no Irish’. The kind of work and multiple-occupancy housing they sought placed them in direct competition with the existing white working-class who were already experiencing poverty and exploitation from bad employers and notorious slum landlords by the practice of “Rachmanism".

On 29 August 1958, A white Swedish woman was arguing with her black Jamaican husband outside Latimer Road Tube station. Surrounding locals intervened and it turned into a bit of a brawl. The next day, a mob of white kids (The Teddy Boys) recognised the wife alone and beat her up quite badly due to her choice of husband.

Later that night, the gang, now 3-400 strong, scoured Notting Hill targeting the houses of West Indian residents with iron bars, butcher's knives and weighted leather belts, by their own account. This continued for 7 nights as the newcomers then took to the streets to protect themselves.

These first race riots in Britain, the Notting Hill riots, resulted in 140 arrests and severely degraded relations between the West Indian community and the Met Police; accused of reacting far too slowly and doing very little to stop the violence. 

In response to that horrific week in 1958 of bloody conflict and tension, an activist named Claudia Jones decided she wanted to revive the spirits of the newcomers with what she called a “jump up”; a chance for the community to lick their wounds, forget their troubles, party and celebrate new beginnings.

In 1965, Rhaune Laslett-O'Brien blew that concept up into the first Notting Hill Carnival continuing every year since and still led by many of the original Windrush residents of the area. Nearly 3 million attended last Summer bank holiday weekend with 9000 police officers on-duty; some of whom felt relaxed enough to party harder than casual visitors. The two-day event contributes roughly £93 million to the UK economy.

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Filmed and edited by #DewyneLindsay http://dewyne.uk
Music by Yeth Thar. https://yeththar.bandcamp.com/
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Видео London Districts: Notting Hill (Documentary) канала London Districts