Silver Screen Walk

Silver Screen Walk

Time: 2 hours
Start: Goldhawk Road station
Finish: Notting Hill Gate
Distance: 4.2 Miles

SHEPHERD’S BUSH
Start from Goldhawk Road tube and proceed directly into the bustling bartertown of Shepherd’s Bush Market, where Phil Daniels flees a gang of rival Mod hooligans in the’60’s-set ‘Quadrophenia’ (1979).

Stroll along neighbouring Lime Grove, once the site of Gainsborough Studios, where Hitchcock shot ‘The 39 Steps’. All that now remains is a redbrick mini-estate named Gainsborough Court, but it’s worth a look. Arriving on Uxbridge Road, take a left and a right into Stanlake Road, where on the corner of Stanlake Villas you’ll find the building where Michael Caine’s arrogant secret agent Harry Palmer keeps his London bolthole in ‘The Ipcress File’ (1965).


HOLLAND PARK
Head back to Uxbridge Road, turn left along the edge of Shepherd’s Bush Green and follow the painted sheep through the dank and urine-stained underbelly of the Westway. Emerge into the lush cleanliness of Holland Park and bear right into Queensdale Road, passing the Sikh temple (the oldest in Europe) recognisable from ‘Bend it Like Beckham’ (2002).

Take a left into the narrow and charming Princes Place and follow the road round to No 49, site of David Hemmings’s timber-beamed photography studio from ‘Blow Up’ (1966), now an architects’ practice.

WESTBOURNE GREEN
Take a right into Tavistock Road, and before long you’ll recognise The Tavistock, once briefly known as the Mother Black Cap in tribute to its appearance in the ’60s-steeped hippie elegy and drinkinggame favourite ‘Withnail & I’ (1986). Resist the temptation to write ‘I Fuck Arses’ on the gents’ wall.

Proceed along Tavistock Road to Westbourne Park tube, then take a right along Western Road and Shrewsbury Road until you hit St Stephens Gardens, home of Michael Caine’s eponymous gadabout in ‘Alfie’ (1966).

Say ‘What’s it all about?’ in a south-London accent. Turn right along Talbot Road until you hit Powis Square, where the facing corner house is immediately recognisable as Turner’s flat in Nicolas Roeg and Donald Cammell’s nightmarish comedown classic ‘Performance’ (1968). If you’re feeling brave, drop copious amounts of acid and attempt to switch personalities with your walking companions.



NOTTING HILL
Take a left along Colville Terrace to Ledbury Road and follow it up to Pembridge Road and into the core of Notting Hill Gate.

Movie locations come thick and fast here, from The Beatles’ headlong flight from the opening of ‘A Hard Days’ Night’ (1964) to memorable scenes from classics including ‘The Knack… and How to Get It’ (1965) and ‘Alfie’.

The avid film buff can also check out the ‘Stage and Screen’ secondhand DVD emporium, or visit the Coronet or Gate cinemas. Everyone else can just collapse into one of the area’s many hostelries have some booze.

PORTOBELLO ROAD MARKET
Take a left and a right to find Portland Road, and follow it into the heart of west London. Cross Ladbroke Grove and proceed to Portobello Road Market, scene of a classic cockernee song-and-dance sequence from Disney’s cutesy family musical ‘Bedknobs and Broomsticks’ (1970).

Mourn the absence of tap-dancinghookers and knock-kneed English bobbies. Walkers
who have a penchant for the modern rom-com may also recognise Portobello Road from
Hugh Grant’s season-shifting mooch in ‘Notting Hill’ (1999).

The market began in the late 1860s or early 1870s on Saturdays. By the 1920s the market was being held every day of the week, although it was some time before a daily market was officially accepted. By the 1960s the market was world famous, and was one of the icons of swinging London.



 

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