Literary Tour of Portobello

Walk preview

1. 

   Step 1: Begin your walk in Pembridge Square.

2. Step 2: This tour is curated by KCAW partner Tom Vague, a music journalist, exhibitions curator and community project coordinator with strong links to the borough.

3. 

   Step 3: The local literary classic, ‘The Napoleon of Notting Hill’ by GK Chesterton, was published in 1904, set 80 years in the future in 1984.

4. Step 4: The story was inspired by Chesterton’s Tory anarchist revelation that a row of shops in North Kensington should be defended from civic interference.

5. Step 5: The Lord High Provost of Notting Hill takes King Auberon seriously and fights to save ‘Pump Street’ (a literary Chesterton property near Pembridge Square) from demolition.

6. Step 6: After a battle at the beginning of Portobello Road, Notting Hill wins the war but is changed for the worse and loses the final battle to the rest of London.