Portobello Road and Portobello Road Market are west of the Paddington Station. It begins near the Notting Hill Gate-Tube Station going north to Westway (A 40).
Fictive[]
Mr. Gruber's antique store can be found on Portobello Road. Paddington Brown enjoys visiting Portobello Market on a daily basis.
Reality[]
Portobello Road is a well-known road in London, located in the Notting Hill district.
The Portobello Market in the media[]
In the short story The Portobello Road, Muriel Spark narrates the story of a murderer who, visited by the ghost of his victim, Macbeth-style, tends to constantly go to the Portobello Road market to meet her. The Portobello Road was included in the 1958 collection of stories The Go-away Bird and Other Stories.
In 1966, singer Donovan recorded the song "Sunny South Kensington" containing the lyrics, "in the Portobella I met a fella with a cane umbrella."
In the 1970 novel The Chinese Agent by author Michael Moorcock, a world-renowned jewel-thief more than meets his match when he attempts to swipe a brooch from a Portobello Road market stall, and is hunted down through the streets like a dog by the sharp-eyed market traders.
The market was featured in the 1971 musical film, Bedknobs and Broomsticks in a scene involving a song ("Portobello Road") and dance in and around the market
In 1978, the band Dire Straits sang about the road in the song "Portobello Belle" on their second album.
The Portobello Road and its colorful restaurants, pubs, and local culture is featured prominently in Martin Amis's 1989 dark satirical novel London Fields.
The street and its name also appeared regularly on the hit TV series Minder.
The board game Portobello Market is named after this market.
BBC One's daytime antiques-based gameshow Bargain Hunt regularly features contestants buying items at the market to later sell at auction.
It is also referenced in the song "Blue Jeans" by Blur, 1993
It was the setting for the 1999 film Notting Hill, with much of the filming taking place on the street. The famed blue door, however, no longer exists, having been sold.
It is the setting for Paulo Coelho's 2007 novel, The Witch of Portobello.