LOVE AMONG THE BOOKSHELVES: NOTTING HILL

Released in 1999 and one of a series of films by the writer Richard Curtis, the romantic comedy Notting Hill, starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, was both set in and filmed around the London district of the same name.  The uber-cool shops, restaurants and cafes of this sought-after part of London provided the perfect backdrop for this tale of a romance between book shop owner Will Thacker (Grant) and a very famous American film actress called Anna Scott (Roberts).  The unlikely pair gradually fall for each other in spite of Will's modest way of life, which includes sharing a flat with the revolting Spike (hilariously portrayed by Rhys Ifans). 

One of the most famous attractions in Notting Hill is the Portobello Road Market.  Number 142 Portobello Road was used in the film to portray Will's shop, while in real life it was the site of an antiques arcade, although it has since changed hands.  Will gets off to a bad start with Anna when he upsets orange juice over her white t-shirt: the coffee shop where he buys the orange juice is at 303 Westbourne Park Road, which is now a barber's.  The entrance to Will's flat features in one of the film's funniest moments when the papparazzi  turn up in search of Anna Scott, only to be confronted with a half-naked Spike flexing his dubious muscles.  The actual location of the blue doorway as seen in the film is at 280 Westbourne Park Road, which was once the home of Richard Curtis.  The blue door used in the film was removed and auctioned off as people kept turning up and leaving graffiti on it.  The scenes showing Will relaxing on his roof terrace were filmed at 113 Portobello Road, which is currently an art shop which forms part of the the Antique Arcade.  

Portobello4. Photo by Albeins, via Wikimedia Commons.

Will has a restaurateur friend called Tony, whose establishment is represented by a location at 105 Golborne Road; this is now a card, poster and gift shop.  In one scene, Will is shown going to see one of Anna's films in a lovely old cinema, the cinema in question being the Coronet Cinema, a fabulous confection of neoclassical features and one of Notting Hill's most iconic buildings.  In another scene, after a dinner at the house of Will's friends Bella and Max, which was filmed on location at 91 Lansdowne Road, Will and Anna break into a private communal garden.  The gardens used for the scene were Rosemead Gardens, part of a residential area called the Ladbroke Estate right in the heart of Notting Hill.  Such expensive living spaces are typical of the area, and were hilariously sent up in Rachel Johnson's novel Notting Hell.    

Coronet Cinema, Notting Hill Gate 02. Photo by Edwardx, via Wikimedia Commons.

For those unfamiliar with the area, Notting Hill lies to the north of Kensington and northwest of Hyde Park.  The big event of the year is the Notting Hill Carnival, the nearest thing Britain has to a real Latin-style carnival, which takes place at the end of August each year.  Notting Hill has not always been as universally upmarket as it is today.  The area around Pottery Lane was such a miserable slum in the 19th century that it was commonly known as the "Potteries and the Piggeries" - at one time there were thought to be roughly three pigs to every person.  But then there was the other side of the coin, with exclusive enclaves such as the aforementioned Ladbroke Estate, which belonged to the wealthy Ladbroke family in the 19th century and was developed according to a plan drawn up by the architect Thomas Allason, who envisaged a large central circus with streets radiating out from it and garden squares.  Today, the estate is a conservation area looked after by the Ladbroke Association.  

Stanley Crescent garden and houses - geograph.org.uk - 837128. Photo by David Hawgood, via Wikimedia Commons.

Notting Hill is by no means the only film featuring this vibrant, cosmopolitan part of London.  A range of other films have made use of locations in the area, from Alfie and Blow-Up in the 1960s, the crime drama 10 Rillington Place and Antonioni's The Passenger in the 1970s, Withnail and I in the 1980s, right up to London Boulevard starring Keira Knightley in 2010, to name but a few.

The Visit London website is a good source of practical information for visitors to the area.

Map of the area.

PINING FOR THE CAM: RUPERT BROOKE AND GRANTCHESTER

When in the beautiful university city of Cambridge, if you want to escape the hubbub of the centre you should make your way along the banks of the Cam to the village of Grantchester, a riverside settlement with charming pubs and cottages.  Probably the best known building in the village is The Orchard Tea Garden, which is known in literary and academic circles as the place where a group of talented friends known as the Grantchester Group used to congregate.  The group included philosophers Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein, writers E. M. Forster and Viriginia Woolf, the economist Maynard Keynes, the artist Augustus John and the poet Rupert Brooke.

Brooke, who moved into Orchard House in 1909, was a central figure to the group.  His boyish good looks and floppy hair once moved the Irish poet W. B. Yeats to describe him as the "handsomest young man in England".  This was a peaceful period when hedonism was the order of the day, and the group led an idyllic existence, skinny dipping in the river and hanging out together in the orchard.  On one occasion Brooke and Virginia Woolf swam naked by moonlight in a weir pool known as Byron's Pool, a reminder of  an earlier poetic presence in the village.  However, as was the case for so many people, the fun ended abruptly in 1914 with the onset of World War I.  Brooke entered the war by joining the Navy, and he sailed with the British Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in 1915.  Tragically, he died of sepsis brought on by an infected mosquito bite while moored off the Greek island of Skyros.  He was buried there, and the grave remains on the island to this day.  

River Cam at Grantchester - geograph.org.uk - 808244. Photo by Trevor Peach, via Wikimedia Commons

 

In May 1912 Brooke found himself in Berlin, and was so overcome with nostalgia for Grantchester that he penned a poem called 'The Old Vicarage, Grantchester'.  In the poem he recalls wistfully the flowers in the garden: "And in my flower-beds I think//Smile the carnation and the pink".  Suffering from the Berlin heat, he longs for the cool river back home: "The stream mysterious glides beneath//Green as a dream and deep as death", and "And there the shadowed waters fresh//Lean up to embrace the naked flesh".  He then pokes fun at the Germans and their rules and regulations: "Meads towards Haslingfield and Coton//Where das Betreten's not verboten."  (an allusion to the German mania of the time for banning people from walking on grass).  He also has a go at the inhabitants of the other neighbourhoods in and around Cambridge, accusing them of being miserable, as in the lines "Strong men have run for miles and miles//When one from Cherry Hinton smiles", in contrast to Grantchester, where "They love the Good, they worship Truth//They laugh uproariously in youth".  

Grantchester Mill Pond - geograph.org.uk - 649084. Photo by Sebastian Ballard, via Wikimedia Commons

The Orchard Tea Garden still serves tea to thirsty passers-by today, and the wooden tea pavilion still stands there.  For those who want something stronger, the pleasant selection of pubs in the village includes one named after Rupert Brooke.  The walk to Grantchester is an easy 2-mile hike along well-worn riverside paths taking in the verdant stretch known as Grantchester Meadows.       

The Red Lion - geograph.org.uk - 649097. Photo by Sebastian Ballard, via Wikimedia Commons

Map of the area.