Portobello Road the road in the song "Portobello Belle" on their second album "Communiqué". The cult British children's book character Paddington Bear, featured in the books written by Michael Bond, enjoys visiting Portobello Market on a daily basis. His friend Mr. Gruber owns an antique shop on the Portobello Road, with whom Paddington has his elevenses every day. The Portobello Road and its colorful restaurants, pubs, and local culture is featured prominently in Martin Amis's 1989 dark satirical novel "London Fields." The street and its name also appeared regularly on the hit TV series "Minder". The board game "Portobello Market" is named
Paddington Bear and sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. A much loved fictional character in British culture, a Paddington Bear soft toy was chosen by British tunnellers as the first item to pass through to their French counterparts when the two sides of the Channel Tunnel were linked in 1994. Paddington is an anthropomorphised bear. He is always polite – addressing people as "Mr", "Mrs" and "Miss", rarely by first names – and kindhearted, though he inflicts hard stares on those who incur his disapproval. He has an endless capacity for innocently getting into trouble, but he is known to "try