OS grid reference TQ255795 Region London Sovereign state United Kingdom Local time Friday 5:59 PM Ceremonial county Greater London UK parliament constituency Kensington | London borough Kensington & Chelsea Country England Postcode district W10, W11 Dialling code 020 Post town London | |
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Weather 15°C, Wind SW at 18 km/h, 51% Humidity | ||
North Kensington (more commonly known as Ladbroke Grove) is an area of Northwest London lying north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green. The grand union canal is the official boundary between Kensal Green and north Kensington. The borders between north Kensington and Notting Hill are a little less clear, but residents generally use the westway flyover as a barrier. The names north Kensington and Ladbroke Grove are used interchangeably to describe the same area, with most using the name "Ladbroke Grove".
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Map of North Kensington, London, UK
North Kensington is where most of the violence of the Notting Hill race riots of 1958 occurred and where the Notting Hill Carnival started, despite north Kensington and Notting Hill being separate areas.
The area's main transport hub, Ladbroke Grove tube station, was originally called Notting Hill from its opening in 1864 until 1880, and Notting Hill & Ladbroke Grove between then and 1919, when it was renamed Ladbroke Grove (north Kensington). It acquired its current, simpler name in 1938. The area was also once served by St. Quintin Park and Wormwood Scrubs railway station, until it closed in 1940.
North Kensington was once an area well known for its slum housing, as documented in the photographs by Roger Mayne, but housing prices have now risen and the area is considered exclusive and upscale.
Waves of immigrants have arrived for at least a century including, but certainly not limited to, the Spanish, the Irish, the Jews, the West Indians, the Moroccans and many from the Horn of Africa and Eastern Europe. This constant renewal of the population makes the area one of the most cosmopolitan in the world.
Though Ladbroke Grove is the area's main thoroughfare, its best known street and town centre is Portobello Road.
Crossrail
At a site just to the east of the Old Oak Common site, Kensington and Chelsea Council has been pushing for a station at North Kensington / Kensal off Ladbroke Grove & Canal Way, as a turn-back facility will have to be built in the area anyway. Siting it at Kensal Rise, rather than next to Paddington itself, would provide a new station to regenerate the area. Amongst the general public there is a huge amount of support for the project and Mayor Boris Johnson stated that a station would be added if it did not increase Crossrail's overall cost; in response, Kensington and Chelsea Council agreed to underwrite the projected £33 million cost of a crossrail station, which was received very well by the residents of the borough. TfL is conducting a feasibility study on the station and the project is backed by National Grid, retailers Sainsbury's and Cath Kidston, and Jenny Jones (Green Party member of the London Assembly).