By Seren Charrington Hollins 
Founded in 1979 as a specialist travel bookshop, The Nottinghill Bookshop, became the basis for a successful Hollywood film, and today it remains one of Britain’s most recognisable book shops. Indeed the bookshop has become a destination for tourists, film buffs and I was delighted to make a pilgrimage visit to the bookshop last week.
The Travel Bookshop was the inspiration for the 1999 romantic comedy Notting Hill, in which its charismatic, but socially clumsy owner, played by Hugh Grant, met and fell in love with a famous film actress played by Julia Roberts. It is a feel-good film and did wonders for visitors to the bookshop, which, when I visit, was crammed with excited browsers, whilst outside it was like a photo shoot with tourists happily clicking snaps of the bookshop facade and was crammed with excited browsers, whilst outside it was like a photo shoot with tourists happily clicking snaps of the bookshop facde and of course taking those all-important selfies for their social media accounts. It was a bit of a squash and squeeze inside the bookshop and I was unable to see the books on some shelves, because the shop was just so crowded.
When the Notting Hill Bookshop opened in 1979, it specialised in travel books only. However, in 2011 it was set to close after being hit by the recession and its then owners finding their children were not interested in taking over the business, it was reported that no prospective owners could be found and the fate of the cult bookshop looked grim. However, the shop did change owners and opened up to a wider audience, no longer specialising in just travel books, it broadened its stock to cover most areas of interest and today you can browse books on tarot, religion, classic literature and just about everything else, but the shop still maintains a sizeable travel section.
Walking around the crowded shop, I saw lots of illustrations of the bookshop for sale on wooden postcards, bookmarks and keyrings. The merchandising of this shop is testimony to its cult status. In the 1999 movie “Notting Hill,” Julia Roberts’ character, Anna, delivers a memorable line to bookstore owner Will, played by Hugh Grant: “I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” It was no surprise to me to see this line dotted around the bookshop and indeed the bookshop staff said that wedding photographs have taken place outside the bookshop, with it becoming a romantic destination.
In a world that is becoming virtual, where anyone can have books delivered to their doorstep and online retailing giants such as Amazon have replaced traditional high street retailers, there is no doubt that bookshops are finding it hard to survive and so it was nice to see this little booksshop full. I cannot help wondering whether the shop was full of browsers not readers and buyers.
I loved this quirky bookshop, with its dark wood shelves crammed with an eclectic selection of books, tables filled with piles of books, and yes, I made one or two purchases, including a lucky dip book for my thirteen-year-old, that I selected from one of the many piles of brown paper wrapped books that just stated the age range and genre.
A gem of a bookshop that is nestled in a busy, vintage vibe community that is well worth a visit.
Website : https://www.thenottinghillbookshop.co.uk/
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/nottinghillbookshop/
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/nottinghillbookshop/
Twitter : https://twitter.com/nottinghillbook
Online Store : https://www.thenottinghillbookshop.co.uk/shop
