Portobello Road is London’s most iconic street and a unique place to live and visit. Despite the waves of gentrification, soaring rents and the recent arrival of High Street chains, its Bohemian, anarchic, creative spirit still survives. Julian Mash, a former bookseller at the famous Travel Bookshop, meets the traders and shopkeepers, film-makers and fashionistas, punks, promoters and poets who make Portobello what it is. From his encounters with famous residents like Damon Albarn and life-long market traders like Peter Cain there emerges a vivid and sometimes surprising picture of one of Britain’s most famous neighbourhoods.


This fascinatingly illustrated book explores how Portobello Road has been at the centre of trends as diverse as racial integration, health food, vintage fashion, the property boom and the life and death of record shops.