Notting Hill Gate

Notting Hill Gate' is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name. At Ossington Street / Kensington Palace Gardens, the Bayswater Road turns into Notting Hill Gate, continuing westward until it turns into Holland Park Avenue, just before it reaches Ladbroke Grove.

Character
Notting Hill Gate is home to a variety of stores, restaurants, cafes and estate agents as well as more specialist stores which include rare records and antiques, as well as two historic cinemas, the Coronet (originally opened as a theatre in 1898) and The Gate, as well as also several bars and clubs. It is the location of the legendary Record and Tape Exchange shops (now Music and Video) presided over by multi-millionaire eccentric Brian Abrahams.

1950s redevelopment
Much of the street was redeveloped in the 1950s with two large tower blocks being erected on the north and south sides of the street. At this time Notting Hill Gate tube station was also redeveloped linking two stations on the Circle and District and Central lines which had previously been accessed on either side of the street with an entirely underground station concourse which acted as an interchange between the deep level central line and the sub-surface circle and district lines. The new tube station also acted as a pedestrian subway under the widened Notting Hill Gate, the subway contained a ticket office, toilet (now closed) and newsagent.

Not all of Notting Hill Gate's original features were lost when it was redeveloped however, one good example of this is the Notting Hill Coronet, previously a Theatre it was converted into a Cinema in 1923, and was saved from demolition by local activists in 1972 and 1989. In 2004 its long term future was secured by the Kensington Temple who acquired the site with the intention of continuing to provide independent cinema. The Coronet is one of two famous cinemas on Notting Hill Gate, the other being The Gate.

Transport Links
Notting Hill Gate is the site of Notting Hill Gate tube station which is on the Central, District and Circle lines, it is also on the route of the 148, 94, 31, 28, 27, 328 and 52 Buses as well as the 24 hour Oxford Tube (Coach) service. There are several bus stops along both sides of Notting Hill Gate and although there are no taxi ranks on Notting Hill Gate itself it is easy to hail a Black Cab anywhere on the street.

Environs
To the south of Notting Hill Gate lies Kensington Church Street, with its restaurants and antique shops, Hillgate Village (a name given to the area immediately south of Notting Hill Gate with its multi-coloured houses) and Campden Hill Road. North from the tube station lies Pembridge Road, which leads to Westbourne Grove. This area is often packed with tourists heading to the nearby Portobello Road market, or to spot locations from the film Notting Hill.

Popular Culture
The Gate Bar, which is located in the basement of the Gate Cinema, was used as a location in the television comedy Absolutely Fabulous (season 4, "Paralox").