BBC News Online: Entertainment: Notting Hill Carnival

Changing face of the Notting Hillbillies

It is a mark of Notting Hill's bohemian status that residents of the hip inner-London district are given the slightly grungy name of Notting Hillbillies.

Gentrification has taken a strong grip on the once-downcast area and property prices are among the highest in the capital.

Many of today's inhabitants take care to avoid the Carnival that has put their district on the map. They are packed and ready to get out of town before you can say "Hot, hot, hot!"

Nevertheless, there is another set of Notting Hillbillies that prefers to see itself as urbane and streetwise - a world away from opulent neighbours in Kensington and Holland Park.

Artists rub shoulders with intellectuals and there's more than a smattering of celebrity inhabitants. Famous residents past and present include supermodel Kate Moss, artist Lucian Freud, designer Tom Dixon and comedian John Cleese.

Ups and downs at the Hill

The origins of Notting Hill's name have never been traced although it dates back several centuries. In 1356 it was recorded as Knottynghull.

Residential development only started in the mid-19th century, when it was carved into about 15 common gardens framed by a variety of fine villas and stuccoed Italianate terraces.

But within a century its character had shifted markedly, and in the 1950s Notting Hill became popular with Caribbean immigrants, particularly those from Trinidad.

The influx of West Indians into an area with an acute housing shortage sent tensions soaring and in 1958 Notting Hill became notorious as the scene of four days of race riots.

By the 1960s however, and with swinging London at full momentum, the area became a popular haunt for the creative crowd. The artists David Hockney and fashion designer Zandra Rhodes both set up home there.

In the 1980s property boom, prices took off and Notting Hill has not looked back since. Portobello Market is a major year-round draw, and the area is now characterised by trendy cafés, bars, restaurants, antiques and interiors shops.