After my very, very happyfying pizza lunch at Franco Manca, I tubed it to Notting Hill Gate for my next stop.
Notting Hill in West London sits within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and is best known for the annual Notting Hill Carnival as well as being the titular locale of the Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant film Notting Hill. It’s also home to Portobello Road Market, and has a reputation for being affluent and cosmopolitan while at the same time also just a little bit alternative and artistic-indie.
It is really a very pretty neighbourhood, as you can see. Much of what I saw of West London was, actually.
The objective of trekking all the way up here to Notting Hill was this museum: the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising (MOBPA).
In my quest to find interesting, off the beaten track things to do in London, this was the one museum (along with Sir John Soane’s) that consistently popped up, so I really, really wanted to squeeze in a trip here by hook or by crook. MOBPA is essentially a museum showcasing a large collection of domestic goods, toys, advertising and packaging, begun by one man, Robert Opie, at the age of 16. The collection now contains over 12,000 items. It was originally located in Gloucester, and moved to Notting Hill in 2005.
This was practically the first item of advertising on show that assailed me when I entered the museum, en route to the ticket desk. PROPAGANDA, KIDS. DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ!! -guilty cough-
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