| Synopsis: |
A first-hand account by one of the men in charge of policing for part of the time, which covers an iconic era in modern English social history. Contains a rare insight into the inner workings of the police and covers the major riots of 1958, 1976 and 1982 as well as the growth and development of the Notting Hill Carnival from its inception in 1965. Notting Hill is now one of the most sought after locations in London. But its progress from crumbling buildings to gentrification spans half a century within which it became one of the most turbulent places in Britain. Plagued by social decline, unsolved serial killings, riots, illegal drugs, underground bars ('shebeens'), police raids into 'no-go areas', and racial and other tensions, this was also part of the capital associated with characters such as self-appointed spokesperson Frank Crichlow, slum landlord Peter Rachman, Christine Keeler, the Angry Brigade, 'hustlers' such as 'Lucky' Gordon and Johnny Edgecombe, the activist Michael X (later executed in Trinidad) and radical lawyers.It was the location of the racist murder of Kelso Cochrane, the Mangrove Restaurant, the brief rise and fall of the Black Power movement in the UK and most notably perhaps of the iconic Notting Hill Carnival with its unpredictable mix of excitement, protest, street crimes and battles. The book is about what it was like to police Notting Hill in an area that came to be dubbed a 'Symbolic Location'. It concerns how this work adapted to challenges that first began after the Empire Windrush arrived in England with its passenger list of immigrants for whom Notting Hill became an area of choice, initially to be met with placards stating 'No Coloureds'. It is indeed a wide account of the forces in play at a time of deep social change, bringing new perspectives to bear on a period whose traces are rapidly passing into folklore. |