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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Inside the Big Biba department store
Open for just two years, the 1970s flagship shop for this fashion label was a shopper’s paradise
How Mary Quant revolutionised 1960s fashion
This champion of super short hemlines influenced how a generation dressed
Kensington Market led British alt fashion for 33 years
Where Freddie Mercury sold boots and punk thrived
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Two women chatting at a street corner in North Kensington (silver gelatin print)
Mayne, Roger
1957
The construction of the Metropolitan District Railway (albumen print)
Flather, Henry
1866-1870
