West
Church Street and Alfies Antique Market
Officially this street market (purportedly London’s oldest) is open
most days of the week but traders tend to arrive and pack up when they
feel like it. Head there on Saturday to catch it at its buzziest when
it runs the length of Church Street. Like most markets, it reflects the
local population so you’ll be as likely to find Lebanese herbs and
spices as baskets of apples and pears. Though there are no longer any
butchers’ stalls (once there were four), there are still a couple of
decent wet fish stalls (cod’s roe, king prawns, croaker for £1/lb;
seabass for £2.50/lb). As well as cheap coats, T-shirts for a quid,
Letoon trainers for a fiver, bedlinen, luggage (though watch out that
the wheels don’t drop off before you get home) and whistles, you can
even get your mobile phone unlocked. The man on the toy stall has been
there forever, apparently. Pop into the fabulous Joel & Co for
divine haute-couture fabrics. The Al Amir (No 55) bakery is good for a
stop-off. Further up (in terms of quality too) is fabulous Alfie’s
Antiques: three floors and 300 stands selling everything from African
artifacts, vintage clothing, spectacular glass lamps and chandeliers,
candlesticks, antiquarian books and copies of Picturegoer (a 1944 copy
with Cary Grant or Marlene Dietrich, £20), and jigsaws (50p). Take more
refreshment upstairs in the Terrace Café.
Church Street Market, Church St, W2 and NW8. Edgware Rd tube. Open Tue-Sat 9am-5pm.
Alfies Antique Market, 13-25 Church St, NW8 (020 7723 6066) Edgware Rd tube. Open Tue-Sat 10am-6pm.
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Portobello Road Market
Portobello Road is a host of markets rolled into one. Starting at the
Notting Hill end are mainly antiques stalls selling silverware, medals,
old maps, vases, vintage jewellery, bric-a-brac and general Victoriana.
Further up, you come to the food stalls, packed with everything from
traditional fruit and veg to tasty cheeses, stuffed olives, organic
biscuits and crackers, bratwurst and crêpes. Next up come clothes and
jewellery, ranging from cheap trendy club- and casualwear to delightful
craft bracelets and earrings. The cafés under the Westway are a good
place to rest before plunging into Portobello Green where a range of
edgy designers, including Preen, sell their wares. Clothes and vintage
items at the cutting edge of fashion can be found along the walkway to
Ladbroke Grove, while on the right-hand side are fairly random
selections of bric-a-brac, including antique military uniforms and old
photographs, typewriters and gardening tools. It’s under the canopy and
further up Portobello Road past the Westway, where you’ll find the best
vintage fashion stalls. Look out for the excellent second-hand boot and
shoe stall (both usually under the canopy) and the brilliant vintage
handbag stall (usually outside the Falafel King café) along with
wonderful vintage clothing stall, Sage Femme, which can normally be
found outside the Antique Clothing Shop.
Portobello Road Market, Portobello Rd, W10, W11;
Golborne Rd, W10. Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill Gate or Westbourne Park
tube. Open (general) Mon-Wed 8am-6pm,Thur 9am-1pm, Fri, Sat 7am-7pm;
(antiques) Sat 4am-6pm.
Shepherd’s Bush Market
This super local market, running between Uxbridge Road and Goldhawk
Road, is for food in west London what Brixton is in the south and
Ridley Road is in the north. There’s a fantastic range of ethnic treats
(Indian, Caribbean, African and Polish), with stalls selling sweet
potatoes, yams, coconuts, cassava, okra, falafel, rice, mangoes (three
for a £1), as well as cakes and biscuits for diabetics, and some of the
freshest fish you’re likely to find in the capital. You might even get
a recipe from one of the customers: ‘clean them (small sardine-like
fish) and deep fry them, then add plenty of pepper and spices.’ The
stores alongside the market stock treasure troves of pulses, nuts,
spices and a enormous range of tinned foods. There are loud print
fabrics, hubble-bubble pipes, goatskin rugs for £30, glamorous
sequinned yashmaks, under-, night- and footwear, saris, plus watches,
jewellery, scarves and hats. There are also plenty of home furnishings;
among them you’ll find bedclothes, blankets, duvets, pillows, bath mats
and rugs. Add to all that kitchenware, toys, tools and electronic
equipment, cheap soaps, snacks, sweets, CDs and DVDs, not to mention a
stall selling reggae music and luggage, and you’ve got, well, too much
to carry, frankly. Some more unusual items found included a perfume
called ‘Bint El Sudan’ and ‘Virgin’ hair fertiliser. Pick up some
falafel or schwarma from Café 2000 where you’ll probably find a group
of middle-aged Middle Eastern women shrouded in black enjoying a chat
and a chew. Worth checking out is nearby Traid (164 Uxbridge Road),
where you can pick up ‘remade’ items: second-hand tat transformed into
chic desirables. A recent visit yielded labels such as Jasper Conran,
Fat Face and Burberry.
Shepherd’s Bush Market, east side of the railway
viaduct, off Goldhawk Rd, W12. Goldhawk Rd or Shepherd’s Bush tube.
Open Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat 9am-5pm, Thur 9am-1pm.
Southall Market
Housed in a scruffy yard behind the high street, Southall Market on a
Saturday is a cross between a traditional working market and a trip to
the Indian subcontinent. The range of goods is astonishing: fresh fruit
and veg (including all types of chillies), lentils, eggs and fish sit
alongside sari fabrics and clothes. Then there are hair accessories,
costume jewellery, kitchenware, haberdashery, cheap pants… and a stall
selling Bibles and Gospels. The market is also unusual in that it
varies from day to day: on Tuesdays it’s a poultry market, where you
can buy live birds for the pot; Wednesday is devoted to the buying and
selling of horses (really) and the odd goat (for around a fiver);
Friday will remind you of ‘Steptoe and Son’; and Saturday is when the
whole glorious mess comes together and looks like downtown Delhi.
Southall Market, The Cattle Market, High St,
opposite North Rd, Southall, Middx, UB1 3DG (020 8574 1611) Southall
rail. Open (general) 9am-5pm Sat; (poultry) Tue 10am-12noon; (horses)
Wed 8am-5pm; (furniture) Fri 6am-12noon.
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10 comments
Waterloo bridge market in your report says daily ,
why then is it shut on tuesday ?
Which market is Ashish referring to on 26 Nov 2006?
Hi! There's a cupcake stall at Northcote Rd markets and i don't know the name of it!? Can anyone help?!
Hey, How come Sunday UpMarket on Brick Lane isn’t mentioned?
How can you say Whitechapel market is one of London’s best? It is one of the worst! It is dirty and the stallholders don’t seem to have much regard for the environment – there is rubbish all over the place. I think it should be shut down!
Hi I’m looking for the best place to fin 60's or 70's men’s suits in a variety of colours? Has any one any ideas??
How can i book a stall at the Leather Lane Market? how much does it cost for how long?
Where about in london i can find a market that sells cheap designer clothes ( tags off maybe). Thanks
how can i go about booking a stall (selling space to sell in the market?
Its really fantastic. The Atmosphere is sooooooo.... relaxing and enjoyfull. Beautifull stalls and relly good for gift items as i am dealing with gift items and clothes and found some new customers as well.