Then and Now
JOHN LEARMONTH was publisher of The Hill in 1987, and has been a Notting Hill local for over 20 years.
‘We bought The Hill in the summer of 1987. It was 12 pages, all black and white, so we relaunched it – we created the masthead that’s still used today – and gave it a colour cover. We didn’t do any market research, we just thought, “This seems like a good idea, let’s give it a whirl.” We were really the only magazine specifically focusing on Notting Hill. We made all the classic mistakes of running a business. We never had any money, but we did manage to build the circulation. We were a bunch of young guys; maybe we just looked upon it as a student rag mag. We advertised in TNT for distributors, and got all these Aussies. We did a contra deal with Portobello Van Hire for four vans – we’d drive down to our printers, Simpson Drewett in Richmond, load up and distribute it in a day. Once we were stopped by the police. You can imagine – 10,000 copies of a magazine, six beefy Aussies… We had offices above the Market Bar – it was so trendy when it opened. It used to be a really grotty old pub, and when they pulled up the floorboards, there were loads of drugs. Apparently when it rained, people stashed their drugs underneath the floorboards.
I was born and brought up in London, and moved to this area in ’86. In the Eighties, there were a lot of independent art galleries in Notting Hill – they’re virtually all gone now. There was this big arty-farty crowd, and they all used to hang out at 192, a wine bar on Kensington Park Road. Now it’s just a bunch of rich bastards! All Saints Road 20 years ago was a no-go area – look at it now; Westbourne Grove is the same. At that time, the area had a very clear identity. I think that’s eroded over the years. You look around here now and within 100 yards, there must be about 10 coffee shops. They just didn’t exist back then. There are good things that have happened in the last 25 years, though. When we were running The Hill, the campaign to save the Electric Cinema was going, the Coronet wasn’t turned into a McDonald’s and there was the last serious Carnival riot. In a sense, the great thing about Notting Hill is that now you might have all these smart boutiques, but at least they’re still independent shops.’
One of The Hill’s first advertisements was a little shop on Elgin Crescent. Owner ANTONIA GRAHAM is also celebrating – 35 years in chic interiors.
‘We chose Elgin Crescent as it was on the edge of the market. This road has always been rather special. At first the police used to be called quite a lot – we had the sound of police sirens and ambulances over the weekend, with blood on the pavement on Monday morning and gangs “steaming” shops. But we always had interesting and friendly local customers encouraging us.
Mr. Christian’s opened about the same time as us, but many that were around then have since gone. Barnett’s toy shop, Felicitous, Harper and Tom’s, Mary Mackintosh at Elgin Books. Huge piles of anything electrical used to await Mr Harper’s attention – now things are just thrown away.
At first we specialised in kitchen and basketware, inspired by the wonderful displays of fruit and veg on Portobello, then we opened across the road and went into bedrooms and bathrooms. One weekly trip was to the New Covent Garden flower market. The forecourt of 7 Elgin Crescent was covered in herbs from Suffolk, and geraniums and petunias in summer. We had three stores in the street once, but decided that it made more sense to sell elsewhere and by catalogue and web, so we found new stores and let 2 Elgin go. We have felt recently we’ve moved too far from our beginnings. I’ve taken some wonderful trips – we had a collection of Chinese hill tribe bags and skirts this summer, and there’s a large container of vintage country furniture on its way from Mongolia this autumn.’
Estate agents John D Wood faithfully took every outside back cover The Hill’s first published year. We talk to managing director, PETER YOUNG.
‘I first came to live in Kensington a year before I left the Army in 1978, buying a house behind Edwardes Square. We moved up the hill to Palace Gardens Terrace in 1984 just before the birth of our second child. We purchased the property in three flats and converted it back to a house where we have brought up our children ever since. I love shopping for fruit and vegetables on Portobello market and the mental arithmetic involved in calculating the correct price. My other great pleasure is going to the Coronet – I still shudder when I remember that it was so very nearly redeveloped as a fast-food hamburger restaurant.
There’s not much that I don’t like about Notting Hill – maybe the litter after a summer Saturday, when the tourists flock to Portobello Road. The area has also become far less bohemian as property values have risen. Over the last 30 years the area has definitely improved. No longer do we have ladies of the night plying their trade on Palace Gardens Terrace, or the associated crime and violence. Over the next 25 years I’d like to see fewer agents coupled with a steadier market, and fewer booms and busts so one can reduce the stress and anguish of moving house. I believe in plain speaking and good marketing, enabling the market to decide a property’s true value.’