Sledge: The Soul of Notting Hill

The phrase ‘One Love’  is a part of the philosophy of Rasta. The centre piece is an artwork, entitled ‘Mama  Africa’ by Mortimo Planno. History on Mortimo Planno is featured in ’s book ‘ Sledge: The Soul of Notting Hill’

 

One Love mini exhibition

M G Robinson came to Shepherds Bush library on the 19th December 2015 to talk about her book Sledge: The Soul of Notting Hill

 

 

Sledge was an iconic figure of the famous Portobello Road and part of the rich cultural history of the area.

Robinson wrote this book to document the life and times of her father; Sledge. Her book reveals the very significant transnational connection between Jamaica and London, in terms of culture, music and ideology.

Her talk at Shepherds Bush Library attracted an eclectic audience; multicultural; young and old. It was a real delight to see people coming together to discuss local history; contributions from the audience were welcomed, memories were shared and questions asked. A few people took notes to do follow up research.

The significance of the talk lay in the fact that local history was being verbally imparted from a woman who had actually lived it. Robinson has taken the time to record and share this knowledge with a wider audience to inform and educate.

An awesome slideshow put together by Tom Vague, (local historian and pop journalist) accompanied the talk featuring amongst others, photos of Sledge, the band Aswad, and shots of the Portobello and All Saint’s Road, over the years.

Considering the times we live in, bringing people together to share experiences, to learn and realise their common interests and stories serves to strengthen community spirit and helps us acknowledge the greater historical interconnectedness of all of our lives.

M G Robinson’s next talk will be:

• North Kensington Library
• 108 Ladbroke Grove,
• London W11 1PZ
• Saturday March 5^th 2.30-4.30pm

Book your free place via Eventbrite

Zena Naidu
Senior Customer Service Assistant, Shepherds Bush Library

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Local History Week at North Kensington Library – a review

We were so busy in the last week of September with Local History Week at North Kensington Library. The Carnival Mas and Mayhem banners exhibition was very popular and it was good to see local residents gather in the hallway to read the testimonials from people reminiscing about late 1950s and the birth of Notting Hill Carnival.

Notting Hill Carnival exhibition panels

On Monday there was a talk by our own member of staff and famous soca artist John David with his guests Pepe Francis – a man who has dedicated more than 50 years to the steel band art form and Symone Williams  – the manager of the mas band Genesis whose late father Vernon Williams was one of the founding members of Notting Hill Carnival in 1964.They talked about history of steel bands, local community support of young people through own experience, costume and mask making and the importance of Notting Hill Carnival to the local community and wider.

I could have listened to them forever…

John David

We had film screening Carnival 73 , featuring Leslie Palmer, the first organiser of Notting Hill Carnival as we know it today. 58 Riot Tour films by Tony Auguste followed by the discussion hat featured Sister Monica Tywang, who presented the Mas and Mayhem exhibition.

Tom Vague

 

On Thursday, our guest was Local author Blanche Girouard whose latest book Portobello Voices was published in early September. She took us on an audio visual journey through hidden gems of Portobello Market. We listened to the recorded interviews with local traders who were talking about their experiences from the market from past and present.

The copy of the book is available to loam from all Kensington and Chelsea Libraries.

Portobello Voices by Blanche Girouard

The last day of the North Kensington Local History week was fun, fun, fun!!! There was a carnival mask making workshop in North Kensington Children’s Library.

We had colourful paper, glitter and feathers and we created some beautiful masks (that can now be seen on display in North Kensington Children’s Library) while we chatted about the Carnival, colours, shapes and….oh…. ok…..and we had a bit of girly fashion chat as well…..

And here are some of our masks!

Carnival masks

Silva Memic

Silva Memic

Customer Services Manager

North Kensington, Kensal and Notting Hill Gate Libraries

Local History Week at North Kensington Library

North Kensington Library

North Kensington Library is having a Local History Week later this month from Monday 23 to Saturday 28 September. So if you’re interested in knowing more about the local area then come along – we’ve events for all ages and they’re all free.

Local History Exhibition

141-143 Ladbroke Grove in 1969

Monday 23 to Saturday 28 September

Notting Hill Caribbean Culture – Past and Present

Notting Hill Carnival

Monday 23 September, 6 to 8pm

A talk by John David. Places are limited – book your free place to this at North Kensington Library.

Carnival 73, 58 Riot Tour and Grove Roots – Film Screenings

Tom Vague

Tuesday 24 September, 5 to 8pm

Carnival 73 features Leslie Palmer. The screenings will be followed by a Q and A with Tony Auguste and Tom Vague. Places are limited – book your free place to this event at North Kensington Library.

Meet author Blanche Girouard

Blanche Girouard

Thursday 26 September, 6 to 8pm

Blanche Girouard is a local author. She will talk about her latest book ‘Portobello Voices’ which is on the relevance of Portobello Market today. Places are limited – book your free place to this talk at North Kensington Library.

Carnival Mask Making workshop for children

Carnival mask

Saturday 28 September, 1 to 4pm

There’s no need to book a place to this session – just come along to North Kensington Children’s Library.

Silva Memic

Customer Services Manager, North Kensington Library

The Library at Portobello Road Market

We were very kindly given a pitch on Portobello Road Market on Friday 30 November to promote the library. Me and a colleague, Amanda Southern valiantly volunteered to staff the stall for the day! We thought we’d have something eye- catching for busy shoppers to have a look at so we had lots of photos of the market through the ages, from the 18th  to the 20th centuries. These were very kindly supplied by our Local Studies Library.

Here’s some pictures of our market stall.

Our market stall from the front

And from the back

We were given an excellent pitch, right in the middle of the market.

Portobello Market

And thankfully although it was a cold day it didn’t rain!

The sun shines at Portobello Road Market!

Lots of people stopped to look at the photos and talked about them.

Looking at the old photos

Amanda Southern talking to an interested passer-by

We also took a short video of our stall. Apologies- it’s a little shaky!

Many of the current market traders knew of the families and market stalls in the photos such as Mr Brooks and Mrs Rudd.

Mr Brooks’ vegetable stall, 1958

Mrs Rudd’s salad stall, 1958

And here’s a photo of the market in 1951.

Portobello Road Market, 1951

If you’d like to see more photos like this please do pop into or contact our Local Studies Library (it’s at Kensington Central Library, W8).

It was a great day as so many people stopped to have a look and chat with us. Me and Amanda would like to say thanks to the following people as it couldn’t have happened without their help:

Mark Atkinson, Markets Development Officer- who very kindly gave us the pitch.

Eddie Philips, Building Supports Assistant- who drove us to and from the market and helped us with the gazebo.

Gaynor Lynch and Ishwari Prince from North Kensington Library- who covered for us so we could have lunch in the warm!

Dave Walker, Local Studies Librarian- he took the pictures for this post and got the photos together for the stall.

Jodie Green, Lending Librarian

Amanda Southern, Customer Services Manager

Kensington Central Library