Description: Camden Market is one of London’s largest weekend tourist attractions, offering fashions, exotic foods and a rich diversity of people. The area of Camden has been described in the literature of Charles Dickens, George Orwell and Mary Shelley- highlighting its importance to the culture of London. We visited on a Sunday in December but even though it was busy.
The area surrounding the market has a diverse history. Regents Canal was built through Camden at the end of the 19th century. The canal was a vital supply of produce for London- warehouses and production lines soon appeared in Camden where goods were processed before being sent further down the canal to the City.
Camden enjoyed only a brief spell of prosperity, as rail and road soon became a less expensive way of transporting produce. Many of the warehouses and processing plants were closed down and the area was left to decay.
In 1970 an idea to use the Camden area as a market space was formulated. The British Waterways agreed to lease out some of the land and buildings in Camden and Camden Market was born. The success of the Market brought more and more stalls to the area.
Today Camden Market consists of four separate markets, hundreds of stalls and many permanent shops. The Market becomes a hive of activity every weekend and attracts shoppers from right across the Capital.
Camden is in northwest London and can be easily reached by tube or bus. Coming out of the tube station we found ourselves immediately in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the market. Next to the station is the Buck Street Market. Stalls here are so tightly packed together that it is a relief to come out the other side. Teenage merchandise abounds accompanied by masses of tourist merchandise.
Over the road from the Buck Street Market is the Inverness Street Market specialising in fruit and vegetables and thankfully spaced out better. Stalls even here though have popped up selling tourist tat.
Camden Lock Market was really what I was most interested in. For one thing it had a more historical setting being clustered around the canal lock area. On the canal many colourful barges still sit although the surroundings are very different from their heyday. Orphanage kids were once transported up this canal to work in the ‘ dark satanic mills’ of Lancashire. Warf buildings once full of merchandise for transportation are now full of market stalls.
Camden Lock consists of a number of small shops and stalls with both inside and outside sections to it - you can buy clothing, cards, small gifts, furniture, toys, shoes and books. It is a much more arts and crafts-style market than the others. There are lots of Jewellery stalls inside, which sell some unusual and vintage pieces.
Unfortunately, many of the markets in Camden do seem to be selling a lot of the same items. My wife was looking for a handbag and even I could see that the same bags were appearing on numerous stalls and shops. The shops and the Buck Street and Inverness Street Markets are the biggest culprits here, with the other markets retaining a little more of their individual identities.
If you visit Camden have a good look around. Don’t just stay around the station. It’s quite a big area and there’s lots of shops and stalls, some quite hidden away.
Overall Camden is a superb place. Its fun and won’t cost you loads of money. It’s a really interesting place.
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