Kensington

This fascinating selection of over 200 old photographs of the Royal Borough of Kensington shows a surprisingly varied range of activities and views from this unique area of London over a period of one hundred years. Included in this volume are photographs of Edwardian scenes in Kensington Gardens, early underground trains, famous department stores in their founding years and a host of characters recorded as they shop, relax in the parks or listen to itinerant musicians playing in the streets. The camera also recorded streets and buildings that were lost during slim clearence programmes or new road schemes which can be seen again here. There are scenes of Kensington's world famous museums and Earls Court and its exhibition grounds. Some references to property prices of around eighty years ago make astonishing reading today! Most of the images collected here are published for the first time and have been drawn from the author's own extensive collection of old picture postcards.