(Picture by Monkey Magic.)
London is, famously, a very good place for shopping. There are the obvious chains and departments stores; a little further off the main roads, there are shops that sell only pashminas. There are places to buy surrealist chocolate, and a branch of the Japanese chain Beard Papa, which sells cream puffs and only cream puffs; there’s a multi-floor map shop with its own cafe.
Outside the buildings entirely, however, there’s also a growing number of farmers’ markets. The London Farmers’ Markets company organises “producer-only” markets, where only the actual producers of food &mdash food that has to have been grown within 100 miles of London — are invited to sell. The most recent, in Acton, opened around a month ago, on the 12th of May, and the number continues to grow.
No wonder, given that they provide the opportunity for visitors to talk to the actual producers of the food they’re buying, to find out where it comes from and how it was made.
As the company’s map shows, its markets tend to be concentrated nearer the centre: Pimlico, Notting Hill, Marylebone. Elsewhere in London, however, there are plenty of markets that aren’t run by the LFM. These other markets tend to be less strict about who’s allowed to sell, and where the produce has to come from, but they’re still full of gorgeous vegetables and plump ripe fruit, fish and honey and chocolate and fresh milk and more.
Portobello Road Market is most famous as an antiques market, but there are plenty of food stalls as well, and it’s a wonderful place to spend a Saturday morning (if you can deal with the crowds of other visitors who have the same idea as you). Borough Market, wound around Southwark Cathedral and the surrounding area, is vast and confusing, but also thrilling if you want strange and exciting fresh food. “Do you have any eyes for sale?”, we once asked a stallholder. “I’m out of loose eyes,” he replied, “but I could do you a calf head.”
Both are open at selected times during the week — when things tend to be less crowded — as well as on the weekend; and both are definitely worth a look.
London Farmers’ Markets: various locations and opening times. Free entry.
Borough Market: next to London Bridge Station, Thursdays 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Fridays 12 a.m.-6 p.m., and Saturdays 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Free entry.
Portobello Road Market: 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday, for food. Antiques, Saturday 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Free entry.
