Ladbroke Grove is a road in West London, and is also the name given to the immediate area surrounding the road. Running from Notting Hill in the south to Kensal Green in the north, it is located in North Kensington and straddles the W10 and W11 postal districts. Ladbroke Grove tube station is located on the road, at the point where it is crossed by the Westway. It is also the nearest tube station to Portobello Road Market.
It is the main road on the route of the annual Notting Hill Carnival in August.
The street is named after James Weller Ladbroke, who developed the Ladbroke Estate in the mid nineteenth century, until then a largely rural area on the western edges of London.[1]
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In musical history
The psychedelic rock band Hawkwind formed here in 1969, and eventually they bonded and worked with fantasy author Michael Moorcock who then was a resident (and who also lamented the tendency of the band members to show up at odd hours in search of food, alcohol or drugs). The Deviants (formerly the Social Deviants) and Pink Fairies were musical groups out of the Ladbroke Grove UK underground movement, from which a number of bands would emerge, influenced by anarchistic singer/writer Mick Farren. Punk group The Clash also formed locally in 1976. The Roughler magazine emerged in the 1980s and 1990s to chronicle the antics of the more Bohemian residents, including the legendary Portobello Pantos.
Mentions in music
Ladbroke Grove features as the scene of Van Morrison's 1968 song Slim Slow Slider and is mentioned in the 1970s pop hit One Man Band by Leo Sayer. The Pulp song I Spy from the album Different Class features the line "your Ladbroke Grove looks turn me on".
See also
References
- British History Online
- Barbara Denny, Notting Hill and Holland Park Past, Historical Publications, 1993. ISBN 0948667184
- Derry Moore, Notting Hill, Frances Lincoln Ltd, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7112-2739-2
External links
Notes
- ^ Moore, p8
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