News

Stroud Green School
N4 3EX
Twitter: @StroudGrMarket
www.stroudgreenmarket.com
Tube: Finsbury Park
Sunday 10am-2.30pm

Every Sunday the small playground of Stroud Green School is transformed into a friendly community food market offering grocery essentials including quality fruit and veg, bread and pastries, delicious cheeses from Raw Cheese Power, quality meat and fresh fish from the Kent coast provided by Seafayre.  The market also has prepared foods with a popular brownie stall, Pie Station offering all kinds pastry delights and lots of food to eat on the go including beautifully prepared burgers provided by a local chef and the ever popular toasted cheese sandwich stall. 

Those looking for something a little stronger will not be disappointed with a local micro brewery stall and a wine merchant offering a choice of unusual Italian wines with the opportunity to try before you buy.  The market is run with enthusiasm by the ebullient Edmund who has helped, along with the traders, to make this a much loved feature of the north London market scene. 

This in a feature taken from our forthcoming book:
London's Markets 
by Andrew Kershman

Town Hall Approach, N15 4RY
Twitter: @MarketTottenham
www.tottenhamgreenmarket.co.uk
Tube: Seven Sister, Bruce Grove, Tottenham Hale
Sunday 11am-4pm

This little market has a really friendly atmosphere and offers a great selection of meat, locally sourced honey, natural cosmetics, a small selection of fine wines and some great pastries and breads including from the family run Prestige Patisserie – who in the run up to Christmas make delicious seasonal treats.

If you just want to eat on the go there are a handful of great street food stalls including the ironically named Pig Out, offering vegan fast food, the delicious dumpling seller and a great Satay stall.  There is also the excellent Craving Coffee, offering great coffee from local suppliers.  This is a wonderful little market which has engaged and is supported by the local community – long may it survive and thrive!

Venn Street, Clapham, SW4
0207 622 8259
info@vennstreetmarket.co.uk
Twitter: @vennstmarket
Tube: Clapham Common
www.vennstreetmarket.co.uk/
Saturday 10am-4pm

Venn Street Market started in 2009 and is one of the good news stories on the London market scene.  Every Saturday the market brings together around forty-five quality food suppliers, street food traders and the occasional handmade craft stall - all crammed into this narrow avenue which in recent years has been pedestrianised.

Just a few minutes stroll from Clapham Common, Venn Street is well worth making a journey to visit with great cheese from the likes of Borough Cheese Co, a choice of some excellent fruit and veg from Teds Veg with seasonal British produce and Brockmans Farm for organic and biodynamic alternatives. The street might be relatively small, but you can probably do most of your weeks shopping here with Portland Scallop Co offering fresh fish from Dorset; Picks Organic Farm with fresh organic meats, poultry and game;  a selection of deli stalls with artisan food from UK and across the globe including Patй Moi and their award winning mushroom pate; Cannon & Cannon with British cured salamis and chorizo; Hook & Son for RAW organic dairy; Olivier's Bakerys' French breads and, if you can fit it all in, pastries and cakes from specialist retailers such as the fabulous Bad Brownie and Comptoir Gourmand.  Amongst all the food there are also occasional handmade craft and plant stalls.

Venn Street is not only a good place to source your weekly groceries, but also somewhere to relax and enjoy some top quality street food including delicious Hogg roast sandwiches courtesy of the local Moen & Sons butchers and freshly made Japanese dumplings from The Gyoza Guys.  No account of Venn Street would be complete without mention of the long established flower stall at the top of the street, that offers great quality cut flowers, potted plants and succulents.

This in a feature taken from our forthcoming book:
London's Markets 
by Andrew Kershman

Riverside Walk under Waterloo Bridge in front of the NFT
Tube/Rail: Waterloo (Northern and Piccadilly)
Open: Daily noon-6pm (winter); 11am-7pm (summer)

It would be hard to imagine a more perfect location for a book market than on the south bank of the Thames, just outside the British Film Institute (BFI), under the protection of Waterloo Bridge and with a fantastic view of the London skyline. Not only is South Bank Book Market a good place to browse for books but, with a broad tree-lined pedestrian “boulevard”, it also has a romantic atmosphere. I am not alone in thinking this – it was here that Hugh Grant made his declaration of love in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral and I know of one couple that carried out a good deal of their courtship here. The secret of the place is that, although it is in the centre of London, it’s spirit and atmosphere is reminiscent of the banks of the Seine. After only a few minutes of browsing among the books I feel the urge to don a black polo neck, start smoking Gitanes and buy at least one book about existentialism.

The market has eight regular traders who set out about sixty tables heaving under the weight of thousands of books covering most subjects. Works by all the giants of European and American literature can be found here including such names as Dickens, Balzac, Henry James, Orwell, Steinbeck and Kafka. If you prefer a good page turner there are enough books by the likes of Dan Brown, Stieg Larsson and Stephanie Meyer to keep you entertained. This is also a good market to visit for academic and reference books with plenty of philosophy, psychology, art history and architecture. Naturally, being in the heart of the recently modernised Southbank Centre there is a good selection of screenplays and books about film and theatre.  Biographies are also well represented with anything from Kitty Kelly’s prurient treatment of Frank Sinatra to more noble attempts to capture the lives of novelist Graham Greene or movie star Greta Garbo.  If the market cannot supply what you’re looking for traders are always willing to give advice.  Three of the book sellers have been here from the market’s foundation in 1983, so there is a good deal of experienced help on hand if needed.  In recent years there has been an increase in the number of prints, posters, maps and modern art work on sale, with one trader just specialising in these things.

The Southbank Book Market is not the cheapest place to find second-hand books, with most paperbacks selling for around half their new price, but among the thousands of books on offer you can usually find the odd bargain.  Anyway most of the people visiting here are really interested in enjoying the atmosphere and having a browse, rather than trying to save a few quid.

Eat & Drink

The BFI café is right next to the market, but the National Theatre café is just across the boulevard and serves great coffee. Further west along the Thames are several cafés and restaurants housed within the Southbank Centre including the fabulous Queen Elizabeth Roof Garden Bar which is a great place to relax on fine days.

Local Attractions
The Southbank Centre offers art at the Hayward Gallery, classical and contemporary concerts and dance performances at the Royal Festival and Queen Elizabeth Halls, and art cinema and the annual London Film Festival at the BFI.  The centre is also home to Foyles bookshop which is worth visiting if the market has not slated your appetite for books.

This in a feature taken from our forthcoming book:
London's Markets 
by Andrew Kershman

Chelsea Town Hall
King’s Road
SW3 5EE
020 7503 9171
Twitter: @frockme
Insta: @frckmevintage
www.frockmevintagefashion.com

This bi-monthly vintage clothing fair is one of the trusted features of the vintage calendar with about sixty traders offering all kinds of rare and exquisite garments and accessories. 

The events are always a lot of fun with crowds of keen vintage shoppers rummaging among the rails and displays to find anything from collectable jewellery to rare kimonos and 50’s dresses.

One of the best things about Frock Me is the regular venue of Chelsea Town Hall which provides a fittingly grand environment for the fine threads on show.

The event will move to Kensington Town Hall in early 2018 while work is done on the Chelsea venue, but they will return to their old haunt for the autumn.  Take a look at their website or social media for the next event.

This in a feature taken from our forthcoming book:
London's Markets 
by Andrew Kershman

Walthamstow High Street, E17 7LD
Tube/Rail: Walthamstow Central (Victoria)
Monday-Saturday 9am-5pm

Many locals claim that this is the longest market in Britain, which is probably an exaggeration given the size of Portobello Market (see page xxx), but it is certainly quite a trek from St James Street to the end of the market at Hoe Street.  Many local markets are now facing difficulties with the rise of the supermarkets, but Walthamstow is a rare and wonderful exception. There are many reasons for Walthamstow’s continued success, among them the fact that the wide thoroughfare of Walthamstow High Street has been pedestrianised, making it a natural focal point – as well as a great place for shopping and strolling. The shops in the area complement the market rather than compete with it, with some excellent butchers, fishmongers and continental food retailers.

There are about 500 stalls lining the half mile route of the market selling all kinds of things from groceries to kitchenware and kid’s toys.  Although the clothing is not as trendy as that found at Camden Market, there are plenty of stalls selling street fashion at keen prices, including overstocks and slight seconds from High Street brands like River Island, Monsoon and M&S for £5 a garment. Among the many fabric stalls on the market, there’s a particularly good one on the junction with Palmerston Road, offering quality curtain fabric for as little as £3.99 per metre.  Another stall, further along, sells Asian and African fabrics at very low prices.  Walthamstow is also a good market to visit for kitchenware and household goods with anything from large aluminium pans to kitchen roll at well below usual shop prices.

Walthamstow is also a great place to get fresh fruit and veg with lots of stalls competing for business and plenty of discounted bulk offers like a box of plumb tomatoes for just £3 and three bunches of coriander for only £1.  The long standing fish stall is no longer here but there are lots of fish mongers along the strip, all of them offering great value and a wide choice of fishy fare.

Unusual stalls at Walthamstow Market include the CD stall which offers a massive selection of music for just a few quid.  CD’s are becoming a thing of the past, but some people have them in their car and for a few quid they can add to their in-car music collection.  The market also has two stalls where the name of Dyson is mud, trading as they do in Hoover bags and accessories. For romantics who would rather return to their loved one with flowers than vacuum cleaner accessories, there are several stalls selling cut flowers and one dealing in cheap bedding plants.  Among the good deals were large pots of heather or brightly coloured coreoposis for just a few quid a pot.  Another unusual feature of the market is the stall specialising in leather goods run by a friendly Polish man, who is happy to repair items and add the occasional hole to his range of great value leather belts.

Walthamstow High Street is an ideal place to visit if you want to see a neighbourhood market still in its prime. Unlike many local markets it’s busy even on a weekday – although Saturday is the best day to go.  A good way to approach the market is through the wonderful Springfield Park and Walthamstow Nature Reserve, which will take about 45 minutes, but gives you a soothing dose of nature before the hustle and bustle of the market.  At the other end of the market you are about ten minutes from Walthamstow Village and its Saturday market (see page xxx) which is a more gentile market experience and a relaxing way to round off an afternoon shop.

this in a feature taken from our forthcoming book:
London's Markets 
by Andrew Kershman

Waltham Forest Community Hub
(Asian Centre Building)
18A Orford Road, E17 9LN
Walthamstow Central (Tube/Rail), Walthamstow Queen’s Rd (Rail)
@E17village
Saturday 10.30am-3.30pm

Walthamstow’s E17 Village Market has seen a few management changes over the last year or so, but is now run by the traders and for the local community who have taken this friendly little market to their hearts. 

One of the organisers is Kostas who runs the very popular Greek Café stall offering delicious hellenic delicacies.  He is joined every Saturday by an excellent indoor plant and cacti stall, the hot dog stand with the great name ‘Walthamstow Dogs’, a carefully chosen and displayed selection of kid’s toys and books from a stalled trading as 'The Every Space', and some good food and drink stalls including the lads offering delicious Chai tea and one specialising in freshly made Cypriot street food.  The offering is completed by a jam stall, locally made fudge and a young couple specialising in delicious low or no carb snacks – all of which offered free tastings.

This is probably one of London’s smallest markets, but it is friendly and located on the charming Orford Road, with lots of independent shops, some great cafés and the world famous God’s Own Junk Yard, just around the corner.  It is also within ten minutes walk from the massive Walthamstow Market, so you could shop for cheap basics at one of the country’s biggest markets and then come here to relax and enjoy a very different vibe.

this in a feature taken from our forthcoming book:
London's Markets 
by Andrew Kershman