A short walk from my grandfather’s old London flat is a street of colours and bustle. Traders come to market here every Saturday with antiques from far-flung places and distant times. Every other day of the week the street is lined with the freshest local produce, olives spiced and pickled to please every taste, cameras and timepieces that still carry the smells and stories of their long-ago owners, scarves and trinkets, plates and dishes, yellowed books and cartographers’ maps.
A little ways down, some people are looking up at a bright blue house and taking photos. I read the small plaque and realize that this is where George Orwell spent the winter of 1927 after he resigned his post with the Imperial Police in Burma and came to England. I am thrilled to be standing here imagining the prophetic author at his desk plotting in his head the masterplans for the novels he would soon write. And then without preamble I see his prophesies come true in front of my eyes. The big brothers are coming in–chain stores and restaurants, armies of tawdry souvenirs slowly making their inroads into a sanctum of diversity and a thousand different voices. The old traders are starting to shut their shops and go elsewhere for jobs managing supermarkets perhaps–their voices are being stilled. So I want to let these photos speak, in solidarity.
- Don’t miss this short film on Portobello and its history from Stall Stories.
What a great post! I love the market at Portobello Road, and I thought it was really well done how you tied in Orwell to the piece. Makes me want to visit it again with a new perspective!
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Funny, I was just reading about Portobello Road at work today while researching an antiques tour for one of my clients! It does sound like such a fascinating place to visit – will have to check it out on my next trip to London!
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Thank you for this slice of home – I love Portobello market (and London in general)! I especially like the dog pictures 🙂
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I missed out on going to Portobello markets while I was in London and looks like I missed out on an area full of history too! Will have it on the top of the list if I ever get to go back (which hopefully I will!)
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PBS,
As has been said, lovely piece about Portobello Road, a place I seldom walked down during my time in London. You’ve made me want to revisit it. Great photos too. And, I’ve discovered another Orwell fan 🙂
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Thank you so much. And yay, I love a blogger who reads!
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I love Portobello Road! I didn’t realise that some of the old places had been forced to shut, it’s such a shame. I don’t think it’ll become just another high street though, the old charm will hopefully linger on. Lovely post!
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I hope so too. 🙂
Here’s a link for further reading about the threats to the market’s future: http://kensingtonlabour.com/2013/05/31/planning-law-changes-threaten-markets/
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Oh wow, thank you!
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I’ve lived in London all my life and have still never been to Portobello Road! It does look fab, though, I need to make myself go one of these days.
Laura
Sometime Traveller
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Lovely post! I went to Portobello Market years ago but still distinctly remember its eclectic vibe….and your first paragraph beautifully brought it all back for me. I too lament the encroachment of big bad chain stores and restaurants, threatening to transform places with stories into anonymous identikit spaces. All the luck to the campaigners and may posts such as yours remind the need to preserve such places…
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Thanks, Priyanka. It’s true we need more places like Portobello, and more people fighting to keep them alive. Lots of respect to the campaigners quietly fighting to preserve the market’s heritage.
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I love Portobello. I used to live in Queen’s Park not far and we used to walk down on a weekend and enjoy the hustle and bustle. Your photos are wonderful
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Glad you like the photos. How lucky that you lived so close to this delightful market!
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I love what you did with this: telling us about the cameras carrying the stories of the past and then setting your photographs in sepia tones. It was as if you were taking us back in time through the very cameras you described. Very nostalgic piece.
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Thank you, Jennifer. So glad you made these connections. The cameras at Portobello with all their age and rust and scratches make for endless imagining.
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