Broadway Market
Apr 15, 2018 11:49:11 GMT
Post by patricklondon on Apr 15, 2018 11:49:11 GMT
Broadway Market runs between the Cat and Mutton Bridge over the Regent's Canal, and London Fields in Hackney. The first time I went there, it still somewhat reflected Hackney's then "knit your own vegan bicycle" image: but times change, and the usual process of moving upmarket through gentrification and blandification has been taking place.
On the first really fine Saturday afternoon for what seems like a very long time, London Fields was packed but the authorities have clearly prepared for the usual onslaught of summer activities:
As you dive into the ambling crowd around the market stalls, the first thing that strikes the eye is the kind of good old-fashioned housewares shop that ought never to go out of fashion:
But on a glance upwards, one wonders how well suited the neighbours are to each other:
Though there are one or two (frankly rather sad) fruit and veg stalls, and a flower stall:
this isn't a general street market. The main attraction for most people is as an ultra-cosmopolitan food court:
You can buy some kisses to follow your pickles, sauerkraut or kimchi:
or a cupcake to go with your ham off the bone:
or some fudge off the block, a brownie or an eclair for later, perhaps:
and not forgetting your furry friends:
As well as the opportunity to support local causes by buying something to promote the market:
there are the worthier sorts of craft stall one might expect from Hackney:
while others aim a bit further upmarket:
But the sight of ladies' scanties side by side (do knickers rub shoulders, or could one say they abut?) dungarees is very Hackney:
even if the hats look more like Camden Market:
Some nods to the past survive, such as the traditional pie-and-mash shop:
but just next door is (of course) an estate agent's and the opportunity for that other middle-class pastime, tutting over the prices (£1 million plus, or thereabouts, for the kind of house that was being torn down in my childhood, or £500k for a two-bedroom modern flat):
And here's another sign of the changing times - hardly the house journal of the alternative society:
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"too literate to be spam"
On the first really fine Saturday afternoon for what seems like a very long time, London Fields was packed but the authorities have clearly prepared for the usual onslaught of summer activities:
As you dive into the ambling crowd around the market stalls, the first thing that strikes the eye is the kind of good old-fashioned housewares shop that ought never to go out of fashion:
But on a glance upwards, one wonders how well suited the neighbours are to each other:
Though there are one or two (frankly rather sad) fruit and veg stalls, and a flower stall:
this isn't a general street market. The main attraction for most people is as an ultra-cosmopolitan food court:
You can buy some kisses to follow your pickles, sauerkraut or kimchi:
or a cupcake to go with your ham off the bone:
or some fudge off the block, a brownie or an eclair for later, perhaps:
and not forgetting your furry friends:
As well as the opportunity to support local causes by buying something to promote the market:
there are the worthier sorts of craft stall one might expect from Hackney:
while others aim a bit further upmarket:
But the sight of ladies' scanties side by side (do knickers rub shoulders, or could one say they abut?) dungarees is very Hackney:
even if the hats look more like Camden Market:
Some nods to the past survive, such as the traditional pie-and-mash shop:
but just next door is (of course) an estate agent's and the opportunity for that other middle-class pastime, tutting over the prices (£1 million plus, or thereabouts, for the kind of house that was being torn down in my childhood, or £500k for a two-bedroom modern flat):
And here's another sign of the changing times - hardly the house journal of the alternative society:
My blog | My photos | My video clips | My Librivox recordings
"too literate to be spam"
