A lament for times past and the days of olde fashioned shoppes…
As is usual on my trips back to England, I like to have a wander down memory lane. Westbourne Grove and all it’s environs is a rich source of memory and observation for me. Walking down it now – all chi chi boutiques, organic cafes, high end designers, trendy bars, hedge fund managers’ wives air kissing each other on the pavement, hungover trustafarians, Notting Hill-billy waifs and strays, public school boys and rastas all jostling for space – it’s amazing to see how how much this area has changed from the grotty antiques thoroughfare I knew so well in the 80s.
It’s probably not an exaggeration to say Westbourne Grove is now one of London’s trendiest streets. It wasn’t always like this. My dad had an antique shop here from the early eighties to the early noughties – until it it only made sense to rent it out as the uber rich hipsters moved in. Back in the day Westbourne Grove was a famous street for antique dealers – a close knit community of old school traders and wideboys. Every shop on the Portobello Road end of the Grove would have been an antique shop. I spent many summer holidays and weekends working there. Walking down it now I notice that there’s not one antique shop left. I feel a sad lament for times past, a history and place that only exists now in memory.
Even the Portobello Road has changed considerably. Sorry if this is turning into a ‘ooh, hasn’t it changed, I remember back in the good olde days’ grumbling type reflection piece. But ooh, hasn’t it changed? Again the Saturday market used to be quite famous for antiques and such, now it’s mainly a tourist domain where Italian’s on holiday can buy Union Jack memorabilia and Banksy prints on blocks. Making it more a jumble sale for theme park Britain and not so cool Britannia.
London was renowned for a clusters of antique and art dealer enclaves – Church Street NW8, Church Street W8, Pimlico Road, Camden Passage, Chelsea and The Cave, Lots Road, high end dealers on Bond Street. I am sure lots of these other communities have changed over the years as the markets change and sometimes it just makes more sense to deal over the internet. A shame really, you can’t beat that human contact, the interaction of personality in the trading arena. I guess we can always start using Skype more heavily in our dealings…
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