For over 100 years Kensington High Street was a prestigious shopping street. It leaves a legacy today of the soaring Barkers and Derry and Toms department store buildings, along with a great array of other architectural styles

It grew from an unpromising windy Georgian street lined with domestic trades, albeit a main west road passing a royal place. Then John Barker came along – his business created the longest shop front in the UK, ground-breaking department store displays and exotic roof gardens – the first of their kind in the country.

Richard tells the story of the rise of the Street from surprisingly unpromising beginnings in the 1860s He plots the development of the big department stores, the fabulous buildings which leave a legacy today, larger than life characters including one “Big Cheese” through to one particular later enterprise, an extraordinary1970s fashion hub.