London

Rag trader: Alf Masterson still finds gold on the streets of London

The rag-and-bone man
With his cigar, dog called Lucky, wooden handcart and distinctive cry of ‘Any old iron’, Alf Masterson, 62, is a Kentish Town institution. He’s been plying his trade since 1956, but d its history goes back hundreds of years to the days when rag-and-bone men travelled the city with horsedrawn carts collecting old rags (for converting into fabric and paper), bones for making glue, and scrap iron to sell.

‘I begin at around 10am and walk round the streets till 2pm after covering around 12 miles. It’s good exercise. In the past, I’ve used a barrow, a pram, and a horse and cart.

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I used to keep my horse in stables down the Caledonian Road, but I can’t afford farriers these days, so now I just walk with the cart. People bring out all sorts of odds and sods: metal, clothes, mattresses, tables, chairs. The most bizarre item was a coffin from an undertaker who was going bust, and once there was a huge dead turtle.

I sell the stuff to the public in the street. Some days I make £40 or more, some days nothing. Stuff doesn’t sell so well these days; it took me ten months to sell a lovely old grandfather clock. If I can’t sell it, it ends up in my living room – I’ve got cherubs, globes, a chair from Ben Elton.
‘I got into this because when I was young I knew an old man who did it and I went with him one day. I decided that was what I wanted to do. It offers great freedom; there’s no boss or sitting in an office. Years ago, people got you in for a cup of tea and a chat. Today it’s a throwaway society and people don’t want to buy the goods like they used to. My son won’t be doing it after me, even though I tell him the streets of London are still sometimes paved with gold.’