Shopping

South
Bermondsey Market
This famous antiques market used to have marché ouvert status: you could flog your dodgy/nicked goods here with impunity, provided you sold them before sunrise. Sadly the law has been repealed and it’s all above board these days. However, you still need to be there before sun-up to get the really good stuff as dealers starting packing up around noon. Find trestle tables of silver and china, with Victorian cups and saucers starting at £25. Prices tend to be on the high side, so haggle. Walking up Bermondsey Street you’ll come to Celia Foley Antiques (No.142, 7234 0651) selling reasonably priced Victorian and Edwardian furniture (dining chairs
from £30).
Bermondsey Market, corner of Bermondsey St and Long Lane, SE21 (020 7525 5000/www.southwark.gov.uk) London Bridge tube/rail or 1, 42, 47, 78 or 188 bus. Open Fri 4am-2pm. Feature continues

Deptford Market
Like lots of formerly run-down areas, Deptford is being targeted for regeneration, which means, once again, that its local market is under threat from property developers, chain stores and coffee bars – so get down here while you still can. Along the High Street you’ll find cheap, cheap, cheap goods (fabrics, groceries, T-shirts), as well as plenty of knock-off or fall-apart imports. It may be tacky but there’s plenty of life here, along with a great soundtrack from almost every stall, from Jamaican to country. Plantains, yams, okra and tindola (a type of Indian gourd) sell alongside live eels and electrical goods. The market then dog-legs into Douglas Way, where a legion of tables bow under piles of second-hand toot: overcoats, records, electronic equipment, and 8-tracks. This is where the real treasures are to be had: if you've a hankering for that ‘Memories of Torbay’ LP or a pictorial history of the Norfolk Broads. Charity shop chic. Can’t beat it.
Deptford Market, Douglas Way & Deptford High St, SE8. Deptford rail. Open Wed, Fri, Sat 9am-5pm.

East Street Market
Off the Walworth Road (about ten minutes walk from the Elephant) is this permanently crowded street packed with a great selection of fruit and veg stalls. Best on Sunday (when there are over 200 stalls), you’ll also find selections of clothes, toys, curtains, rugs, watches, Jamaican DVDs and African CDs of varying quality. Surrounding the market are African food shops, a particularly good fishmongers (beating the local supermarket on both price and quality), several butchers, a hardware store and a couple of greasy spoons. At weekends look out for the ‘Any bowl for a pound’ man, and the flower market on nearby Blackwood Street (Sundays) where you can pick up plants and shrubs (often left behind for free at the end of the day).
East Street Market, East St, SE17. Elephant & Castle or Kennington tube or 12, 68, 148, 171, 179 or 468 bus. Open Tue-Fri 8am-5pm, Sat 8am-6.30pm.

Greenwich Market
Greenwich Market has been trading since 1700 and it’s packed out every weekend. It has three markets, with the smallest – the Weekend Market – situated nearest Greenwich DLR. It’s mostly bric-a-brac and junk, though you’ll also find retro pottery and ceramics. Next along is the Village Market, where a second-hand clothes flea market mingles with Chinese silk dresses, home furnishings and lighting, cheap trendy clothes, ethnic ornaments, CDs and more. Passing the food court you come to the covered Crafts Market, which is full of designers selling handicrafts, jewellery, home furnishings and clothes for all ages; it’s also ideal for gifts (wooden toys, model ships and plenty of accessories). There are lots of restaurants, cafés, bars and pubs in and around the market, and it’s hard to resist in the central hub of stalls, where you’ll find a delicious range of foods including breads, cakes, cheeses, olives, honeys, juices and jams. Sadly, as with plenty of other London markets, this one is under threat. The Antiques market will be replaced by ‘luxury’ accommodation and even the covered section of the market may go as the Greenwich Hospital Trust intends to knock it down for more – you guessed it – luxury flats. Rents have already started to rise ensuring that the independent shops will be forced to close down.
Greenwich Arts & Crafts Market, 11A Greenwich Market, off College Approach, SE10 (020 8293 3110/www.greenwichmarket.net) Greenwich rail or Cutty Sark DLR. Open (antiques, collectables & crafts) Thur, Fri 8.30am-5.30pm; (arts & crafts) Sat, Sun 9.30am-5.30pm; (food court) Sat, Sun 9.30am-5.30pm.
Greenwich Village Market, Stockwell St, SE10. Greenwich rail or Cutty Sark DLR. Open Sat, Sun 8am-5pm.
Greenwich Weekend Market, next to Greenwich Picture House, Greenwich High St, SE10. Greenwich rail or Cutty Sark DLR. Open Sat, Sun 9am-5pm.

Northcote Road Market
This is what you’d call a ‘gentrified’ market – and a superb opportunity for Nappy Valley locals to buy the freshest fruit and vegetables, as well as flowers, ceramics, vintage ladies’ clothes, handbags, exotic homeware and photographic prints. There is also an excellent selection of independent shops along Northcote Road, including Kelly’s Organic Foods (No 46, 020 7207 3967), Hamish Johnston (No 48, 020 7738 0741) for cheeses, A Dove & Son (No 71, 020 7223 5191) for organic meat and the Hive Honey Shop (No 93, 020 7924 6233) for all things bee-centric. The Antiques Market (No 155a, 020 7228 6850, Mon-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 12noon-5pm) has 40 dealers (in a 3,000sq ft space) offering antique furniture, china, glass, silver, jewellery and pictures. There are also plenty of eateries if all that shopping works up an appetite.
Northcote Road Market, Northcote Rd, SW11 (020 8871 6384) Clapham Junction rail. Open Mon-Sat 9am-5pm.