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.
We were given an excellent pitch, right in the middle of the market.
And thankfully although it was a cold day it didn’t rain!
Lots of people stopped to look at the photos and talked about them.
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.
And here’s a photo of the market in 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
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