Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill (located on Portobello Road itself) is unique, vibrant and the hub of Notting Hill's community and it's close neighbouring districts. The market's distinctive feel owes something not only to the buildings and street-scape, but also to the three sections of the market (antiques stalls, food stalls & general item stalls) together with the shops lining the road and of course the wide variety of communities and individuals who choose to frequent the area. All of these elements combine to give Portobello Market (sometimes called Notting Hill Market) the international reputation it deserves, in turn adding to it's overwhelming commercial success today.

The main and by far the busiest market day for Portobello Road is Saturday, however the full opening times are: Mon-Wed & Fri: 8:00am- 6.30pm
Thu is a half day closing at 1.00pm
Sat 8:00am- 6:30pm

History of Portobello Road

Portobello Road (previously thought to have been called Green Lanes) appears to have been born from a small footpath that linked Notting Hill Gate to an area two miles North West of Notting Hill calledKensal Green. The exact date the footpath was created is likely to remain unknown (possibly around the 1400's) but it became a much more popular thoroughfare with the advent of Porto Bello Farm, built half way down the lane around 1740. The farm itself was named so to commemorate Admiral Vernon capturing the coastal city of Puerto Bello, Panama in 1739 (a town favoured by the Spanish for Silver and other treasure trading) and to follow suit the footpath itself was renamed Porto Bello Lane which in turn became Portobello Road during the 1850's as roads, homes and businesses were developed along its route.

Portobello Road Market itself started life in the late 1860's, early 1870's when many houses on the road were still under construction. Market traders were primarily selling food (known locally as "costermongers") and were being driven by the ever expanding neighbourhood, inturn attracting many other traders to start selling medicines and general "bric-a-brac" goods. Side shows and street perfomers were also reported to have been getting in on the act setting up opposite the food stalls themselves. Up until the end the of 1920's traders were only operating on Saturday's, mainly due to the restrictions levied upon them by the local council, but after a lengthy battle they finally managed to approve opening on many other days and the market flourished.

By the end of the Second World War, around 1945, many "Rag and Bone" men started setting up stalls and selling second hand household items and antiques. The men were renown for selling high quality items for low prices and word started to spread, which in turn lead to more knowledgable buyers moving in to make a profit from the deals. This kick-started the Antiques section of the market postioned near the top end of Portobello Road between Lonsdale Road & Chepstow Villas (towards Notting Hill Gate). Then 10-15 years later, during the late 1960's fashion traders gradually started to appear and Portobello Road

Portobello Market London - A very real "overworldly" world

by Margret Gunnarsdottir

I never meant to buy anything! So how come I returned from the
Portobello market to my especially chosen cheap hotel with two
exquisite (and much too expensive) 200 years old candlesticks?
I didn't have any object at home older than 10 years...

I blame it on the otherworldly atmosphere. I blame it on the
friendly and interesting faces of the stall owners. I blame it on
my travel companion who kicked me in the side and said: "Come on,
you know you want it!"

If you love browsing, especially older things, you should really
pamper yourself and visit this extraordinary place in London,
Portobello Market, Notting Hill: http://www.portobelloroad.co.uk/

It is said to be the biggest antique market in the world. Over
1500 shops and stalls selling everything you can possibly think of
- IF the thing is old. And most of them belong to the Portobello
Antique Dealers Association. Be prepared to enter another world!

When?

The market itself is open on Saturdays but the shops on the
Portobello Road are of course open six days a week.

Early on Saturday mornings, at about 5:30 am you'll see the place
awaken. The Antique dealers deal among themselves and some of them
even come from other countries to attend.

Most of the stall owners are there at 8:00 and around 9:00 the
Londoners and travellers like you and me are already there with
curious faces and excitement shining in their eyes. The market is
very much alive and will remain so until late in the afternoon.

How?

Portobello Road lies 3 kilometres west of Marble Arch and it is
very easy to get there. If you take the underground you can exit
at Ladbroke Grove (Hammersmith & City) or Notting Hill Gate
(Central, Circle and District trains).

What

When browsing this extremely interesting market you will notice
things that'll cost you from just a few pounds up to several
thousand pounds... depending on what you are looking at. So what
attracts you? Candlesticks? Books? Articles made of glass?
Watches? Jewelry? Silverware and cutlery? Wonderful old
telephones? Victorian furniture? Clothes? Or simply some fruit
and vegetables? (Not antique though...)

I've already admitted it. I did buy something although I didn't
mean to. Honestly. I saw these beautiful 200 years old bronze
candlesticks at stall nr. 155 where Mrs. Elizabeth Pullman kindly
assured me that yes, they were original and yes, they were
exquisite. I finally decided that these were the candlesticks of
my life when I found out that Mrs. Pullman was Danish and had been
attending her stall every Saturday for the last 30 years. Don't
ask my why. I just decided.

Code of Practice

Mrs. Pullman was keen to educate this strange Icelandic traveller
and told me among other things about the Antiques Dealers
Association Code of Practice. A most interesting reading:
http://www.portobelloroad.co.uk/aboutpada.asp

And of course I got a detailed description of my candlesticks on
my receipt as it says in the Code of Practice along with the
price, where they were bought etc.

My beautiful and memorable candlesticks now have their place of
honor in my apartment and every time I look at them I recall with
much joy this funny little world, real but otherworldly of the
Portobello market and stall nr. 155.

Margret Gunnarsdottir is an Icelandic information professional and
tour leader in various countries in Europe.

Margret offers passionate, independent travelers to London an excellent
and easy way to organize their trips and travels through her website
Europe Toolbars. Click here to grab your London toolbar!

http://www.europetoolbars.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Margret Gunnarsdottir

Setting up a Market Stall

1. You will need to gain approval from a market officer to sell your commoditys. The council actively encourages traders to sell a diverse range of items. Too many similar product being sold on the market is counter productive, both for the traders and for the visitors.

Portobello Market Office contact details are-

The Market Office
72 Tavistock Road
London W11 1AN
Telephone: 020 7727 7684
www.rbkc.gov.uk

2. Once your proposed commoditys have been approved for sale by the market office, you will need to obtain Third Party Public Liabilty Insurance up to the standard value of £5M. The council equests that the insurance should be taken out in your own name, not your trading name.

3. You will need to register as a market trader (in person only) using at the above address. The council will charge you £ 9.00 as an administrative fee. Check the councils website direct for which other items you will need to brig with you to complete the process.

5. Portobello Road Market will now let you start trading! Just turn up on the day and follow the allocation procdure. The costs to rent the pitch (per day) to allow you to set up your market stall are as follows-

Monday-Thursday from 8am: £ 12.00

Friday from 7am: £ 22.00

Saturday from 7am:
£ 47.00 (new goods)
£ 45.00 (2nd hand goods)
£ 22.00 (Tavistock Piazza - Arts & Crafts only)

E&O exempt, further information may be found by visiting www.rbkc.gov.uk

Portobello Road Facts:

In 1739 Admiral Vernon captured the
city of Puerto Bello in the Caribbean and Portobello Road was named as a tribute.

Portobello Road is famous for its Notting Hill Market (started around 1860).

The Road is host to the first UK electric cinema which opened it doors first in 1910.

There are as many shops as market stalls.

The Road has many music festivals not just the
Ntting Hill Carnival.

Collecting Antiques - The Peoples Art
By Stephen Morgan Platinum Quality Author

In this, the first in a series of articles, we discuss the growth in the marketability of what used to be called Peoples Art and the marketability of everyday packaging materials.

In the past it would have been deemed as vulgar to display any form of branding of any goods on display within the house.

The very thought of guest actually seeing the fact that you were supplying them with Kellogg’s Cornflakes in the morning would have horrified most people. These sorts of facts were usually kept from most guests in middle class households that it was almost bizarre by today’s standards. Middle class households in most cases would have decantered the cornflakes into some sort of neutral container before putting them onto display before guests.

Nowadays it seems to be the complete reverse with designer logos on display on almost anything and the fact that a recognisable brand or logo cannot be seen almost devalues the item on display.

The legacy of this worship of almost anything brand worthy has been to provide a growing market in antique marketing and brand memorabilia. Antique Advertising material is now completely and highly collectable and would be enthusiast have an almost limitless playing field from which to start their collections from.

The whole genre started with Posters and these have moved on from adorning the walls of student establishments to being now extremely collectable in their own right. Antique Posters can now command extremely large sums of money depending on their condition and the content of the posters themselves.

Tins and packaging are now highly sort after items of material and who would have thought that Andy Warhol’s famous display of Tin Cans would have been the inspiration for legions of collectors over thirty years later.

Special promotion items such as ashtrays, fans, money boxes, puzzles and pens are also extremely popular subjects and have gone beyond the stage of just being the target of light fingered tourists on a holiday binge.

“Advertising antiques are works of art” says Robert Opie, Director of the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising in Notting Hill in West London. “Commercial Art is the People’s art and it is fun to collect and display around the house”.

If you are looking to amass a particular brand or category, the secret it would appear, would be to look for something that’s longstanding so that you have a variety of objects to discover.

Some British Brands have been around for some time and well known examples would include Lyles Golden Syrup which has been in existence since 1883, HP Sauce (around since the 1870’s) and Typhoo Tea (around since 1905).

So the next time you see an old Tea Caddy or item of well used kitchen paraphernalia in your Grandmothers Kitchen then treat it with respect because in years to come you may find the family sitting on a veritable untapped goldmine.

Stephen is editor of http://www.absolutelyancient.com and http://www.definitelycollectable.com. His latest project is the launch of http://www.absolutelyantique.us

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=
Stephen_Morgan