Bermondsey
(New Caledonian) Market
Bermondsey
Square, SE1. Tube: Borough or London Bridge. Fri 5am-2pm.
Huge,
unglamorous but highly regarded antique market offering
everything from obscure nautical instruments to attractive
but pricey furniture. As the real collectors arrive at dawn
to pick up the bargains, you should get here before midday.
Camden
Camden High St to Chalk Farm Rd, NW1. Tube:
Camden Town. Mainly Thurs-Sun 9.30am-5.30pm.
On
the high street, Camden Market (Thurs-Sun 9.30am-5.30pm)
offers a good mix of new and second-hand clothes and records,
while the Electric Market (Sun 9am-5.30pm) and Camden Canal
Market (Sat & Sun 10am-6pm) has cheap fashion, hippywear
and souvenirs. Camden Lock, off Chalk Farm Road (Sat &
Sun 10am-6pm) offers arts, crafts and clothes, with some
shops (Wed-Sun, 10am-6pm) adding a few hip designers, antique
dealers and booksellers to the mix. Leading off from Camden
Lock, the Stables Yard (Sat & Sun 10am-6pm) is a sprawling
adventure of clubwear, young designers, furniture, trinkets
and antiques.
Covent Garden
Apple Market and Jubilee Market, off Southampton
St, WC2. Tube: Covent Garden. Daily 9am-5pm.
The
Apple Market has rather twee handmade craft most days, while
Jubilee offers endless cheap T-shirts, jewellery, souvenirs
and so on - the Jubilee antiques market on a Monday is more
enjoyable. Street performers are found in the piazza every
day, and it's an amiable area to wander about in.
Greenwich
Greenwich High Rd, Stockwell St, and College
Approach, SE10. Tube: Greenwich or train, or Cutty Sark
DLR. Mainly Thurs-Sun, 9.30am-5pm.
The
covered College Approach section sells mostly twentieth-century
antiques on a Thursday (7.30am-5pm), and handmade goods
and clothes from Friday to Sunday (9.30am-5.30pm), while
the Central Market off Stockwell Street has funky second-hand
clothes, bric-a-brac and furniture. Shops inside the covered
market and in the surrounding streets offer obscure maritime
devices.
Portobello Road
Portobello Rd, W10, and Golborne Rd, W11. Tube:
Ladbroke Grove or Notting Hill Gate. Antique market Sat
7.30am-6.30pm; general market Mon-Wed 8am-6pm, Thurs 9am-1pm
& Fri-Sat 7am-7pm; organic market Thurs 11am-6pm. Golborne
Rd market Mon-Sat 9am-5pm.
Start
at the Notting Hill end and make your way through the antiques
and bric-a-brac down to the fruit and veg stalls, and then
under the Westway to the seriously hip new and secondhand
clothes stalls and shops around which local style vultures
circle and swoop. The Golborne Road market is cheaper and
less crowded, with some very attractive antiques and retro
furniture
