Notting Hill Carnival

NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL

A carnival is held each year in the Notting Hill district of north-west London over the August Bank Holiday weekend. In the United Kingdom, a public holiday is known as a Bank Holiday and the last Monday in August is a welcome day off for most workers. The event begins on Sunday morning with the children’s carnival and continues with the adult floats and processions the following day. The  carnival was first held in the mid 1960’s. The event is presently run by the Notting Hill Carnival Trust Ltd. Currently, the route begins to the north of Notting Hill at Great Western Road, progresses down Chepstow Road to Westbourne Grove before heading back northwards up Ladbroke Grove to the finish. A number of prizes are awarded with the floats, costumes and dancers judged at a point along the way.

The carnival started with a few hundred people and within ten years one hundred and fifty thousand were attending. In peak years, organisers claim two millions have attended. Correctly estimating the numbers of people attending has always provoked debate. As it is almost impossible to count, because it is a free event with crowds arriving from all directions, the organizers insist that the police publish attendance figures much lower than their own calculations. For their part, the police reckon that their overhead helicopters are able to give accurate measures using tested methods for calculation. For those attending, crammed in toe to chin and only inching along the route by weight of crowd pressure, the two million figure is more than easy to believe. What is undisputed, is that it is Europe’s largest street party and second in the world only to the Rio De Janeiro carnival.

The carnival organisers’ claim with some justification, that the event is offered precious little newspaper or television news coverage, considering its size and the numbers who attend. Besides the crowds, forty thousand volunteers all have an important role to play. There are seven thousand five hundred participants and over one million man-hours are spent preparing the costumes. The parade stretches out over a route roughly three miles in length with large lorries drawing the carnival floats. The food stalls will sell thirty thousand ‘corn on the cobs’ and an estimated twenty five thousand bottles of rum are consumed, mostly in rum punch. Two hundred first aid crew are on standby, including doctors, paramedics and St John’s Ambulance crew. Afterwards, seventy rubbish collectors are ready to clear the streets.

Britain was first only really introduced to steelband music when the Trinidad ‘All Steel Percussion Orchestra’ came to celebrate the Festival of Britain in 1951. Trinidadians local to Notting Hill specifically promoted this sound further at the first carnival in an attempt to show case the steel bands. Calypso, Soca and other imported sounds soon followed in successive years. It takes bands six to eight hours to complete the circuit, with the musicians usually playing continuously.  It is especially tiring for the dancers in their vibrant, colourful costumes, as they seldom break from their routines over the entire distance. There are usually around thirty ‘mas’ bands, using masquerade masks and face painting, perpetuating the historical importance of the masquerade to slavery, an aspect of carnival that is lost on many people.

Public transport arrangements are significantly altered, as the area becomes congested for miles around. Many prefer to approach the last stretch on foot and when they encounter the whistle sellers, they know they are heading in the right direction. In recent years, the authorities have made it more difficult to enter the interior ring within the carnival circuit, in an attempt to control overcrowding, but it is here that the static sound systems are mostly located. Originally, the sound systems were interspersed with the bands on the circuit, but clearly campaigning a war of decibels with the floats, they were sent away to the central streets. The majority of the food stalls are also located in this central area, selling familiar carnival food such as jerk chicken, patties, goat curry and fried plantain.

Curiously, over the past forty years the fortunes of the Notting Hill area have changed dramatically and today it hosts some of the most valuable property and wealthiest residents in London. As people flock in from the four compass points for carnival weekend, many of them from underprivileged neighbourhoods, there is a simultaneous mass exodus for three days by the upmarket residents of Notting Hill, who leave their homes in the ‘care’ of their carnival loving Trustafarian offspring.

For the first twenty years the carnival didn’t have local authority permission which meant that the police were engaged in a losing battle in trying to prevent the carnival taking place. From the late nineteen-eighties this was changed and the police took a more conciliatory approach with up to eleven thousand officers deployed. Each year dozens of police carrier vans are to be seen parked up in side streets, filled with tightly packed officers, their blue uniforms contrasting with pairs of bright yellow ear plugs, firmly inserted to shut out the ‘noise’, whilst they daydream only of the forthcoming overtime payments.  

During the carnival an unspoken amnesty seemingly exists, with the police ignoring open use of prohibited narcotics. However, in the weeks leading up to the 2010 Notting Hill Carnival, the Metropolitan Police concentrated their energies on weeding out known troublemakers and gangs who use carnival purely as a vehicle for violence and criminal activity. Called ‘Operation Razorback’ daily raids at addresses across London were aimed at ensuring that those who set out with the sole intention of making trouble at carnival would not succeed. There have been five murders during carnival since 1987 and after extensive rioting in 2008, it means that public order control at carnival costs the taxpayer an estimated six million pounds. However, the London Development Agency is at pains to point out that the carnival brings in an estimated ninety-three million pounds for the London economy.

The forty-sixth Notting Hill Carnival will be held on Sunday the twenty-ninth of August and Monday the thirtieth, 2010.

Buckingham Palace

BUCKINGHAM PALACE

Buckingham Palace is famous across the four compass points of the world, known to many who have never set foot on British soil. The palace is the official London residence of the British monarch, although Queen Elizabeth II uses it mostly ‘for work’, prefering to live at Windsor Castle to the west of London. At other times, the Queen stays at Sandringham House in Norfolk and spends her summers at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Buckingham Palace is used for entertaining during state visits, audiences in the 1844 Room with incoming ambassadors to the court of St James, investitures, garden parties and in total more than fifty thousand guests pass through the palace on a yearly basis. Those invited are an eclectic mix from all walks of life, for instance in 2007 the Queen invited the entire Arsenal football squad.

Land records on which the palace lies are extensive and date back to the Norman Conquest, with the site falling in and out of royal ownership several times. Buckingham Palace began as a large townhouse, originally built by a Dutch architect in 1703 and commissioned by the Duke of Buckingham. Indeed, the palace originally faced out across its gardens towards Buckinghamshire and today the public are generally unaware that they view the rear of the palace. The title ‘Duke of Buckingham’ is currently dormant. In 1761 King George III acquired the building for £21,000 as a retreat for Queen Charlotte. George IV intended to make Buckingham Palace fit for a royal residence and he commissioned John Nash to reconstruct it in the Palladian style between 1825 and 1826. William IV was not endeared to the building and he even offered it to parliament as the site for its new home after the Palace of Westminster burned down in 1834.

The first monarch to officially occupy the palace was Queen Victoria on her accession in 1837. Ten years later the final wing was completed, enclosing the central courtyard. In 1912, using surplus funds from the public subscription for the Victoria Memorial, a new East façade was built, in straightforward Renaissance design. A stone bulustraded balcony was the centrepiece and it was finished within three months, whilst King George V and Queen Mary were on holiday. The King was so pleased with the speed of the work that he invited all of the labourers to dinner at Buckingham Palace.  The palace was bombed seven times during the Second World War and besides the repair work, it has been little changed since.

The young Prince Philip counted six hundred and sixty-one rooms when he moved in, however he apparently included room-sized cupboards. The Prince is said to frequently get lost in areas of the palace unfamiliar to him, as the Royal Family are housed in only the north wing. Much is occupied by members of the Royal Household for their offices and accommodation, as the palace acts as their administrative headquarters. There are nineteen staterooms, fifty-two guest bedrooms, seventy-eight bathrooms, a thirty seat cinema, a swimming pool and an air-raid shelter containing gilt chairs. Best known to many is the balcony where the Royal Family congregate and wave to the crowds on special occasions. The Buckingham Palace gardens are spread over forty acres and contain a lake and tennis courts. Here the three annual summer garden parties take place, catering for eight thousand guests at a time. In 1996, two middle aged women were struck by lightning during a garden party, whilst sheltering from a storm just fifty yards from the Queen. The garden parties are a relatively recent tradition, started in 1958 as a replacement event to the Queen’s ending of the presentation parties for debutantes. 

No sign written vehicles are allowed to pass directly in front of Buckingham Palace, a measure that is enforced under legislation stating that it is illegal to advertise in the nearby St James’s Park. St James’s Park was created by Henry VIII in 1532, making it the first Royal Park in London.  It is spread over ninety acres and it bridged the land between Henry VIII’s palaces at Whitehall and at St James’s. In 1649 King Charles I walked across the park to his place of execution at the Banqueting House. Chairs have been on hire in St James’s Park since 1735 and they are popular with those listening to the bands that play in the park during the summer months. To the south of St James’s Park is Birdcage Walk, named after an aviary owned by Charles II in the seventeenth century. The aviary contained many weird and wonderful birds, including a crane with a wooden leg and another bird that would eat only scalding hot coals. To the north of the park is The Mall, (see earlier blog: THE MALL.)

Many children who press their noses through the railings of Buckingham Palace wonder whether the Queen is inside. It is simple to tell, as when the Queen is in residence the Royal Standard waves from the roof and when she is absent, the flag does not. The Royal Standard flies wherever the Queen is and only where she is, be it on her car, aircraft and on any building she happens to be visiting. The Royal Standard never flies at half-mast because the monarch is never dead. Led by the tabloid newspapers, ignorance of this caused confusion in 1997, on the death of Princess Diana. Swathes of the general public expecting to see a flag flying at half-mast over the palace, only saw an empty flagstaff or the fully raised Royal Standard. This led to a change to protocol and now when the monarch is absent from the palace the Union Flag flies in its place, which can lowered to half-mast on such occasions.

They’re changing the guard at Buckingham Palace, Christopher Robin went down with Alice…” A.A. Milne’s lines from ‘When We Were Very Young’ were written in 1924 and have been familiar to many millions over the past ninety years. The Changing of the Guard takes place at eleven-thirty in the morning on alternate days, except in the height of summer when it takes place daily and it lasts for approximately forty minutes. It is free of charge and very popular with tourists, so it is advisable to arrive early to be near the front for the finest views. The new guard and accompanying marching band cross over from the nearby Wellington Barracks to the palace forecourt. Under the command of the Captain of The Queen’s Guard, the guardsmen march the length of the forecourt, so all the spectators are able to see. Younger people climb up onto the lower parts of the nearby Victoria Memorial for an elevated view.

The Queen Victoria Memorial was positioned in 1911, but parts were added to it right up until 1924. It is made from white marble and crowned by a gilded bronze figure of Victory. Queen Victoria, sometimes referred to as the grandmother of Europe as she has royal descendants all over the continent, is represented as a seated statue looking down The Mall. Victoria is surrounded by the Angels of Justice, Truth, Charity and Courage. There are other allegorical groups that include peace and progress, science and art, manufacture and agriculture and naval and military powers.

The nineteen state rooms of Buckingham Palace are open to the public between August and September when the Queen is on her summer holidays in Scotland. The money raised goes towards upkeep of the Royal Collection.  The Queen’s private apartments are not on view. The entrance to the state apartments is at The Ambassadors Entrance on Buckingham Palace Road. During the tour, visitors pass through the throne room used on royal occasions and the music room where several of the Queen’s children and grandchildren were baptized. They end their visit through part of the garden, which is truly a walled oasis of calm within the central hub of London.

The Queen’s Gallery is a permanent space dedicated to treasures selected from the Royal Collection. Situated on the site of the former chapel, which was bombed during the Second World War, it offers visitors a unique look at tastes of monarchs since 1600. Items are changed each year and there is a continual series of uniquely themed exhibitions. The Royal Collection is probably one of the most valuable and important in the world. It includes 10,000 paintings, 20,000 drawings, 109,000 watercolours, 500,000 prints as well as furniture, jewellery, sculpture and glass. The entrance is to the south-easterly side, on Buckingham Palace Road.

The Royal Mews is set behind the palace with its entrance on Buckingham Palace Road. One of the finest working stables in the world, it houses the State carriages and some motor vehicles. The word ‘mew’ has its origins with the cages in which hawks were kept, hawks and horses being traditionally kept together. The Royal Mews moved to its present site from near to Charing Cross in the 1760’s and was rebuilt by Nash in the 1820’s. The Royal Mews is generally open to the public, although closed during Ascot week, during State visits and on occasions when the horses and carriages are in use. Visitors to The Royal Mews begin by looking at the riding school, one of the oldest in the world, before moving to the coaches and carriages. The Irish State Coach was built in Dublin and is used for the State Opening of Parliament. The 1910 Gold State Coach is reserved for royal weddings and the 1762 Gold State Coach is always used for coronations.

Where to view Buckingham Palace and video clips of London

London in Motion has some of the best London Stock Footage and London Library Footage with moving clips of many of the above mentioned places to see, are available to browse through by simply visiting the ‘Buckingham Palace’ category of this website.  New additions of London video clips are being frequently uploaded and further categories will be appearing over the coming months. 

The Mall

THE MALL

The Mall is a wide and straight avenue that runs between Buckingham Palace and Admiralty Arch. The Mall follows an old path at the edge of St James’s Park, which was initially laid out in the reign of King Charles II and it soon afterwards became London’s most fashionable promenade. The Mall was specifically created to be an imposing route for ceremonial occasions.  London was late amongst major world cities in creating such an avenue and it was part of a scheme that included a new façade for Buckingham Palace, The Victoria Memorial and Admiralty Arch. The project was commissioned by King Edward VII to commemorate the death of Queen Victoria and the works were completed by 1912.

The road surface of The Mall consists of a distinctive hot rolled asphalt wearing course with red aggregate pre-coats, that gives the avenue a ‘red carpet’ effect, befitting its location in front of Buckingham Palace. The Mall is closed to traffic on Sundays and on public holidays, leaving it free for pedestrians to take the popular walk from Trafalgar Square up to Buckingham Palace. The Mall is also shut for various ceremonial occasions, when vast crowds assemble there, particularly for the occasions when the Royal Family appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. The Mall is closed for events such as the finish of the London Marathon (see earlier blog: LONDON MARATHON), the Queen’s Official birthday with The Trooping of the Colour at Horseguards (see earlier blog: TROOPING OF THE COLOUR) and the celebrations held over the fiftieth anniversary of the end of The Second World War.

The Mall has a distinct nautical feel. It is lined on either side with mighty flagstaffs, reminiscent of the masts of ships. Both a memorial statue to the seafaring explorer Captain Cook and The Royal Marines Monument are located by The Mall. At the easterly end is the Admiralty Arch, designed by Sir Aston Webb who also designed the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. Admiralty Arch consists of three high arches to accommodate traffic. The northernmost arch has a mysterious small human shaped stone nose, protruding from the wall at a point seven feet up. Mounted soldiers are known to touch the nose for good luck as they pass through the arch. The Duke of Wellington was famous for his large nose and the stonemasons may have had the Duke in mind and chiseled this reminder as a prank. In 1997, the British Government temporarily housed a number of homeless folk inside offices and apartments within the arch, from which they could look over to Buckingham Palace from the dramatic semicircular balustrade. Lord Nelson was laid in state above the archway and it was in the Admiralty buildings near to the arch that news arrived on the night of the sixth of November 1805 of the victory at Trafalgar and the admiral’s death.

The Mall acts as a grand processional route from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament. During state visits to the United Kingdom by heads of state from across the four compass points of the world, the monarch and visiting head usually travel down The Mall in a state carriage with the flags of both countries lining the avenue. Alongside the flagstaffs are mature trees on either side, leading down to St James’s Park to the south and up to splendid Nash terraces to the north. Known as Carlton House Terrace, it consists of two terraces of white stucco-faced houses built by John Nash between 1827 and 1832. The terrace was commissioned by George IV following his accession to the throne. The Nash buildings replaced his former palace on the site, Carlton House, where he resided as Prince Regent. The terrace was the final component of John Nash’s master plan, connecting the prestigious development at Regent’s Park with the social and administrative centre of the capital.

The freehold of Carlton House Terrace still belongs to the Crown Estate and each terrace consists of nine large houses. Carlton House Terrace was badly damaged during the Second World War and the exteriors were painstakingly restored but many interiors are now very different to the originals. The addresses remain as fashionable today as they were on construction. William Gladstone lived at number eleven. At number six is located The Royal Society, which is the oldest such society in existence. The Royal Society originated from a group of eminent scholars who began to meet informally in both London and Oxford in 1645, with a Royal Charter of Incorporation dating from 1662. It now numbers about seven hundred and sixty fellows. The rooms contain many busts and portraits of eminent deceased members and there are also interesting relics on display, including Newton’s telescope, watch and his sundial.

Amongst other residents of Carlton House Terrace is The Royal College of Pathologists, located at number two. The College has six thousand five hundred members and it is the professional body for medical specialists and those pathologists who investigate the causes of death. The Institute of Contemporary Arts moved to its present premises on The Mall in 1968. The ICA was founded in 1946 with support from the Arts Council and is separated into departments specializing in visual art, theatre, cinema, music, performance art and rooms for talks and lectures. Adjacent to the ICA is The Mall Galleries and set behind it are British Council offices.

Between The Mall and St James’s Park is the Boer War Memorial to the Royal Artillery which was unveiled in 1920. It shows a winged figure of Peace controlling a horse, which is representative of the spirit of war. A little further beyond is The National Police Memorial which was conceived by the film director and journalist Michael Winner. On the opposite side and at the top of the steps leading to Waterloo Place is the statue of the Duke of York, atop a one hundred and twenty-four feet high Tuscan Column. The Duke of York was the second son of George III. He was the one and same Duke of York immortalised in the well known rhyme, ‘The Grand Old Duke of York, He had ten thousand men.’  He was commander in chief of the British Army until his death in 1827. Every officer and soldier in the army contributed a day’s wages to pay for the monument to be erected. The column was completed in 1834 and the bronze statue of the Duke of York, once known as ‘the soldiers friend’ is by Richard Westmacott.

Also erected just off The Mall on Waterloo Place and only a short walk from the Duke of York Memorial, is a fine statue of King George VI, draped in his garter robes. Unveiled in 1955, the statue is the work of William McMillan, who also made the mermaids in Trafalgar Square. The coffin of his wife, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, passed beneath his gaze on the way to her funeral at Westminster Abbey. She herself is now represented in bronze, neighbouring her husband, the statue was erected in 2009. The Queen Mother’s home from 1953 until her death in 2002, Clarence House, is located behind The Mall and it is now occupied by the Prince of Wales. Close to St James’s Palace is Marlborough House with gardens leading down to The Mall. It houses the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Foundation.

At the east end of The Mall is a solid, brown windowless bunker known as The Citadel, its bomb proof hard edges are softened by climbing plants. Dating back to the Second World War, it was used as a communications headquarters by the navy. It is said to be connected to a number of subterranean government tunnels, some of which run directly beneath The Mall. The Mall also leads to Horse Guards Parade (see earlier blog: TROOPING OF THE COLOUR) and when the guard changes at eleven each morning at Horseguards, the Household Cavalry traverse the length of The Mall, to and from their barracks at Hyde Park.

Where to view The Mall and video clips of London

London in Motion has some of the best London Stock Footage and London Library Footage with moving clips of many of the above mentioned places to see, are available to browse through by simply visiting the ‘The Mall’ category of this website.  New additions of London video clips are being frequently uploaded and further categories will be appearing over the coming months.