Notting Hill History Trip

Notting Hill is a district of West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is now known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road Market. 

However, for much of the 20th century, the area had become run down, suffering from degradation and bombing during the Blitz. It's once elegant, large Georgian houses were subdivided into multi-occupancy rentals. Caribbean immigrants were drawn to the area in the 1950s, partly because of the cheap rents, but were exploited by slum landlords and racist groups leading to the 1958 Notting Hill race riots.

Our students trip actually started in our hall...

where they attended a History Masterclass, presented by Mr L Evans, Ms R Howard and Mr M Whelan. Over 100 students were given a detailed recap of Notting Hill between 1948 - 1970, the teachers drawing on themes from A-Level History to enrich their knowledge.

They then set off, travelling on the underground which excited our students (travelling free courtesy of the Mayor of London). Arriving at Notting Hill, which incidentally is only 11 km (7 miles) away 'as the crow flies' from Canons High, they met up with their specialist tour guides from Justice2History.

The guides literally wrote the book on the GCSE and brought the history to life; 15,000 steps later everyone was tired but happy, several students commenting that,

“being where the history happened made a real difference.”

Huge thanks to Justice2History, who just knew so much and were able to point out so many interesting and relevant historical and social features that really made it into a very special day.

Thanks also to staff members Mrs Markey, Ms Godman, Mr Evans, Miss Hussein, Miss Howard, Mr Artry, Mr Whelan and Ms Mampouya for accompanying the four separate groups on their respective journeys.