LONDON TRAVEL GUIDE

LONDON'S SPECIALIST SHOPS             

The section which follows contains details of some of the ancient and specialist shops which may be found in central London - some well known, some more obscure.  Their prices range from the sublime to the fairly ridiculous - £6,000 for a pair of hand-made shotguns to a matter of pence for a false moustache.  They all have one indisputable factor in common - they are an essential part of London's infinite variety.

ANCIENT AND OLD ESTABLISHED SHOPS
There a number of small, old-fashioned shops dotted around London's streets which typify the Victorian  'gaslight'  image of the capital.  Those mentioned below have retained their essential character, together with their original facades and fittings.

R ALLEN AND CO
117 Mount Street
This butchers' shop has served the residents of Mayfair for almost 200 years.  It retains the mosaic wall tiles and threshold for which butchers' shops were once famous.

ARTHUR BEALE
194 Shaftsbury, Avenue
Rope has been made by this company for something approaching 400 years.  The premises were originally located on the Old Fleet River.  Arthur Beale is now a general chandlers' selling wire rope, rigging and charts.

J FLORIS
89 Jermyn Street
Established in 1739, J Floris continues to sell perfume from its small but impressive premises, which are presided over by descendants of the original founder.  It is considered to be London's leading perfumer.

FRIBOURG AND TREYER
31 Haymarket
The oldest building in the Haymarket, these low-windowed premises date from the 18th-century.  Fribourg and Treyer have sold snuff and tobacco since 1720, and they also specialise in cigars, and the full range of smokers' requisites, including lighters and pipes.

FULHAM POTTERY
210 New King's Road
Founded in 1671, this is said to be the oldest pottery in the country.  Nowadays clay, tools and other equipment are on sale and complete beginners kits are also available.

INDERWICK'S
45 Cornaby Street
Established in 1797, Inderwick's are the country's oldest pipe-makers.  Their extensive stock includes briars, hookahs and meerschaums.

JAMES LOCK
6 St James's  Street
Established as hatters for over 200 years.  Locks made the first bowler hat, known as the Coke after its inventor.  Bowlers are still made to measure on the premises.

THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP
Portsmouth Street
This antique shop, dating from around the 17th-century, claims to have been the model for Charles Dickens'  Old Curiosity Shop, although some scholars insist that it was actually located opposite the National Portrait Gallery.

PAXTON AND WHITFIELD
93 Jermyn Street
An old-established cheese shop, crammed with cheeses of the highest standard from all over the world.  An unmistakable aroma guides patrons to its portals.

PURDEY
57 South Audley Street
For more than 100 years, Purdey's have been the foremost makers of sporting guns.  Each weapon is hand-made and today an order takes around four years to be completed.

SAVORY AND MOORE
143 New Bond Street
These 19th-century premises are said to contain the oldest chemist's shops in London.

G SMITH
Charing Cross Road
An old-established tobacconists, specialising in snuff.

JAMES SMITH
53 New Oxford Street
Umbrellas and sticks of all kinds have been made and sold here since 1830.  Smith's is notable for its old-fashioned signs and for the variety of its stock, which includes custom-made sword sticks and ceremonial maces for African chiefs.  They also undertake repairs.

ANTIQUE SHOPS

SPINK
5 King Street
Famous as coin and medal dealers since the mid-17th-century, this shop has a wide selection of ancient and modern coins and decorations from all parts of the world.

STRIKE ONE
1a Camden Walk
These specialists in English 18th and 19th-century clocks also undertake repairs.

WINIFRED MYERS
91 St Martin's Lane
A dealer in autographs.  The stock includes the correspondence of famous men and women in the field of the arts, politics, etc, and covers a period of 500 years.  Apart from Napoleon, all the subjects are English.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
563 King's Road
Specialists in 19th-century mirrors which come in all imaginable sizes.

TROLL
27 Beauchamp Place
The only genuine Scandinavian antique shop in the country.  It sells 18th-century furniture, pine tables and chairs.

ART AND HANDICRAFT SHOPS

CANDLE MAKERS SUPPLIES
28 Blythe Road
Candle-making kits are sold here together with moulds and all materials associated with the craft.  Books on the subject are also available.

HANDWEAVERS STUDIO AND GALLERY
29 Haroldstone Road, Walthamstow
This shop sells and hires looms, spinning wheels, and weaving materials.  Instruction for weavers is also available.

PHILLIPS AND PAGE
50 Kensington Church Street
This shop sells everything connected with brass rubbing.  Information on the locations of suitable brasses is available together with instructions fro obtaining permission to rub.

ALEC TIRANTI
21 Goodge Place
All materials required for sculpting and wood-carving may be obtained here including goggles, tools and casting equipment.

EDGAR UDNY
83-85 Bondway
Specialise in all kinds of ceramic and mosaic tiles together with laying and cutting tools.

BUTTON, BEAD, AND STONE SHOPS

BAKU TRADING COMPANY
80 Portobello Road
African trading beads are sold here.

THE BUTTON QUEEN
23 St Christopher's Place
Antique and ornamental buttons are the speciality in this shop.

EATON BAG CO
16 Manette Street
All kinds of sea shells are on sale here together with fossils, dried starfish, and other exotic specimens.

ELLLS AND FARRIER
5 Princes Street
These small premises carry an unbelievable stock of all kinds of beads and sequins suitable for stringing or decorating.

GEMROCKS
7 Brunswick Shopping Centre
Stones of all kinds, precious and semi-precious, are on sale here.  Gemrocks also sells tumblers, polishers, cutters and books on jewellery making.

A TAYLOR
1 Silver Place
The most all-embracing stock of buttons in London, if not in the country, is to be found here - leather, horn, plastic, etc.

BOOKS AND RECORDS
BLOOMSBURY BOOKSHOP
31 Great Ormond Street
One of the best-known secondhand bookshops devoted to literature on jazz, this shop is owned by jazz trumpeter John Chilton.

CHILDREN'S BOOK CENTRE
229 Kensington High Street
The entire floor space of this shop is devoted to books for children up to the age of thirteen.  Talks by authors and artists are often given and a quarterly newsletter dealing with new children's books is also available.

CINEMA BOOKSHOP
13 Great Russell Street
As the name implies this shop is filled with books and magazines covering all aspects of the world of cinema, including biographies of stars and directors.

DOBELL'S FOLK RECORD SHOP
75 Charing Cross Road
Dobell's is said to have the largest collection of  'blues'  records in England.

DOBELL'S JAZZ RECORD SHOP
77 Charing Cross Road
A companion to the Folk Record Shop, covering all types of jazz.  New and secondhand records and tapes are available.

JOHN FAUSTUS
Jermyn Street
Rare books and prints are the specialty here.

FOYLES
119 Charing Cross Road
The best known, and probably the largest, bookshop in London with a stock of over 4 million volumes.  There is a large secondhand department where books of all kinds are bought and sold.

SAMUEL FRENCH
26 Southampton Street, Strand
Famous primarily as publishers of plays, French's also has a theatrical bookshop.  Plays of all kinds are available for sale.  Part of French's premises ere once occupied by David Garrick, the famous actor.

HMV
363 Oxford Street
HMV is said to carry the largest stock of records and tapes in the country, if not in Europe.  Most general LPs are available and international artists are also featured.

MOONDOGS
400 High Street North
Specialists in old recordings of popular music, notably rock and roll and rhythm and blues.

A MORONI AND SON
68 Old Compton Street
Newspapers and magazines from all over the world are sold here.

MOTOR BOOKS
33 St Martin's Court
Literature on all aspects of the motor car is available here, together with volumes dealing with motorcycles and aircraft.

ZWEMMER
76-80 Charing Cross Road
Zwemmer's carry the most extensive stock of English and foreign books on art and architecture in the country.

CLOTHING SHOPS

BERMAN AND NATHAN
18 Irving Street
an old-established theatrical costumier where wigs and all kinds of costumes may be hired.  Children are also catered for.

JOHN LOBB
9 St James's Street
Craftsmen can be seen at work in this old established bespoke shoemakers.

MOSS BROS
Bedford Street
This is the most famous clothing hire firm in Britain.  Clothes for all occasions are available and can be altered to suit individual requirements.  They can also be purchased.  Despite Moss Bros'  predominantly male image, ladies' evening wear including fur coats and stoles, wedding and bridesmaids dresses are also in stock.

E H RANN
21 Sicilian Avenue
Specialists in school and regimental ties and badges.

SCOTCH HOUSE
2 Brompton Road
The principal suppliers of Scottish knitwear and tartans in London.

THEATRE ZOO
8 New Row
Animal costumes of all descriptions are available for hire here.

FOOD SHOPS

BENDICKS CHOCOLATES
53 Wigmore Street
Some 32 varieties of handmade chocolates are on sale here including bitter mints and mint crisps.

DEIN'S FOOD STORE
191 Shepherds Bush Market
Specialists in West African and West Indian foods - live snails and salted pigs ears to name but a few.  Dein's supply delicacies by post to customers as distant as Moscow and Australia.

MARKOVITCH
371-373 Edgware Road
Specialists in kosher food - meat, groceries, hot beef sandwiches, etc.  A takeaway service is available on Sunday nights.

MOORE BROS LTD
248 Fulham Road
Freshly ground coffee is sold here, together with coffee making equipment.  Old scales and grinders are also available.

PARMIGIANI FIGLIO
43 Frith Street
London's largest selection of Italian cheeses and foods is sold here.  Pasta, salami, herbs and seasonings are also on sale.

FURNISHINGS AND FLOWER SHOPS

AQUARIUS
571 King's Road
All kinds of water beds, including king-sized, are on sale here.

BEDLAM
114 Kensington Church Street, 811 Fulham Road
All kinds of hanging and space-saving beds are on sale here, including bunks and folding models.  They can be made to individual specifications.  Old-fashioned nightshirts and caps are also available.

F H BRUNDLE
75 Culford Road
Specialists in nails.  All kinds available - wire nails, square nails, lath nails, etc.

CHIVERS FLOWERS OF LONDON
43 Charlotte Street, 63 Marchmont Street, 129 Tottenham Court Road
Florists who provide a unique service in that bunches of flowers may be obtained from vending machines outside all three branches after the shops have closed.

TH GLASSHOUSE
65 Long Acre
Glassblowers may be seen at work on the premises.  All kinds of hand blown articles are on sale.

THOMAS GOODE
19 South Audley Street
This company has produced top quality china for around 150 years, with numerous crowned heads, including Queen Victoria, among its customers.  Personal crests or monograms can be provided.

C E HENDERSON
48 Leadenhall Market
Specialists in Japanese miniature bonsai trees.  Evergreens, apple trees, etc, are available.

KNOBS AND KNOCKERS
61-65 Judd Street
Specialise in fittings (knobs, finger plates, etc) with which to embellish doors.  A large range is available in brass, aluminium and china.

MODEL, SPORT AND TOY SHOPS

BARNUMS CARNIVAL NOVELTIES LTD
67 Hammersmith Road
Masks, false noses, and many varieties of false beards and moustaches are on sale here.

BEATTIES
112 High Holborn
Perhaps the largest model shops in existence.  Model railways are a speciality here, with a secondhand department, but car, aeroplane and boat kits are also on sale.

CHESS CENTRE
3 Harcourt Street
Specialists in chess sets, carrying a virtually unrivalled stock constructed from a variety of materials.

DAVENPORTS
51 Great Russell Street
The sign showing a rabbit emerging from the traditional top hat proclaims an abundance of conjurers' equipment  (professionals get their supplies her).

KAYE DESMONDE
17 Kensington Church Walk
A huge collection of English, French and German dolls, mostly dating from the early 20th-century and before is on sale here.

THE DOLL'S HOUSE
4 Broadley Street
Antique and reproduction doll's houses are displayed here, but it is very much a collectors' shop.  Miniature dolls and furnishings are also available.

HAMLEYS
200 Regent Street
One of the world's largest toy shops.  Games, puppets, dolls, etc, can be found here in great quantities at a wide range of prices.

HARDY
61 Pall Mall
This shop is world-famous for fishing tackle and has sea, game and coarse fishing equipment.  Advice on fishing is readily available.

JUST GAMES
1 Lower James Street
Specialists in adult board games, war games, card games and puzzles.

KITES
69 Neal Street
Sells ready-made kites, kits for building them and books on the subject.

POLLOCK'S TOY MUSEUM
1 Scala Street
Well-known as a museum, but a shop is included in the premises where the toy theatres for which Mr Pollock became famous are still on sale, together with many traditional toys.

STEAM AGE, MECHANICAL ANTIQUES
59 Cadogan Street
Engines, railways and steamboats, mostly collectors items, are available in this shop.

TRADITION
5 shepherd Street
All kinds of lead soldiers are sold here.  The stock ranges from Greek and Roman to modern soldiers and includes painted and unpainted items.  Antique uniform s and swords are also available.

MISCELLANEOUS SHOPS

ANYTHING LEFT-HANDED
65 Beak Street
Just what the name implies.  Scissors, tin-openers, pen nibs, gardening, kitchen and needlework aids are all available, along with left-handed playing cards  (with the symbols on all four corners).

L CORNELISSEN AND SON
22 Great Queen Street
Artists materials are sold here at an interesting speciality are the quill pens and quills from which pens can be made.

THE FOLK SHOP
Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regents Park Road
Folk music books and records are available together with a variety of traditional folk instruments such as dulcimers, tabors and melodeons.

KEITH HARDING
93 Hornsey Road
Specialists in musical boxes of which they hold an extensive stock.  Repairs and restoration are also undertaken and books on the subject are sold.

G B KENT AND SONS
174a Piccadilly
Kent's have been making hair brushes and toothbrushes, etc, since the 18th-century.

LONDON TRANSPORT POSTERS
280 Old Marylebone Road
inexpensive and historical posters are available here, mostly depicting the capitals tourist attractions.

 

TRADE MARKETS              

Noise, a rich variety of smells, and seeming confusion typify London's trade markets.  In fact all the business is carried out with literally breath-taking efficiency and speed, and only those who arrive at dawn will see the markets operating at full spate.

BILLINGSGATE MARKET
Lower Thames Street
The first official mention of this historic wholesale fish market was made as long ago as the end of the 13th-century, when a royal charter was granted to the Corporation of London for the sale of fish, but a market is known to have been held on this site at least 400 years earlier.  For hundreds of years it was held in the jumble of narrow streets which once made up this area; the fish, and other products which used to be sold here, having been landed at the nearby medieval wharf which was located nearby.

The arcaded building which stands on the site today was built to the designs of Sir Horace Jones in 1875 and brought under one roof the sale of all types of fish - 'wet, dried and shell'.  Constructed of yellow stock brick, it is adorned with a  figure of Britannia supported by dolphins and has weather vanes in the form of fish.

From about 5am the market becomes a give of activity and the air is pervaded by a pungent aroma of fish and the uninhibited language of the porters.  By 8am most of the business is over and about 300 tons of fish  will gave changed hands.  Some of the porters still wear the traditional headgear called  'bobbing hats' which are believed to be similar in style to those worn by the archers at Agincourt.  They are made of tough leather and wood, with flat tops and turned-up brims, and enable each porter to carry about one hundredweight of fish on his head.

After all the transactions have been completed the whole area is washed down and becomes quiet and deserted until the following morning when the  hub-bub begins all over again.

BOROUGH MARKET
Stoney Street
This fruit and vegetable market claims a direct descent from the market which was held on the old London Bridge for local people to sell their produce.  This ancient market was replaced by a second, founded by Edward VI in the 16th-century, and was located in Borough High Street, which was, in its turn, removed to the present location in 1757.  Today the market occupies buildings beneath the railway arches of the viaduct serving London Bridge Station, to the south of Southwark Cathedral.

It operates from Monday to Saturday, with traders commencing business as early as 3am.  Activity builds up to a crescendo of noise and bustle between 6 an 7 am, and most of the business has been completed by the middle of the morning.

COVENT GARDEN
Nine Elms
The original Covent Garden  (the area to the east of Charing Cross Road)  owes its name to the fact that the monks of Westminster Abbey had a 40 acre walled garden here.

Following the dissolution of the monasteries in 1537 the land at Covent Garden was eventually granted to the 1st Earl obtained a licence from Charles I to erect a group of buildings on the site.  The architect Inigo Jones was commissioned to design houses which would be suitable for the gentry, and he built these round a piazza modelled on those he had seen in Italy.  The square, and the covered walks in front of the buildings, attracted market traders from near and far, and by 1670 the market had received official recognition.

It grew to become the most important fruit, vegetable, and flower market in the country, and in 1830 the first specially-built market premises were erected on the site.  These buildings were rapidly outgrown, and by the middle of the 20th-century wholesalers had taken over all the streets in the area.  Traffic congestion had become a serious problem by this time, and it was decided that the only solution was to move the market to specially-built premises at Nine Elms.  The move was made in 1974, to the sorrow of many people, as Covent Garden had a unique and irreplaceable character.

Strenuous efforts have, however, been made to preserve something of the feel of the old market area.  The 19th-century Flower Market building has been renovated and will eventually house the London Transport Museum and the Theatre Museum. 

The market has now settled into its new home at Nine Elms, and there is no doubt that the vast building makes up in increased efficiency what it lacks in character.

SMITHFIELD MARKET
Charterhouse Street
Smithfield is London's principal wholesale meat market, and its annual turnover of some 350 million tons of produce makes it one of the largest meat, poultry, and provision markets in the world.  The total area covered by all the market buildings is over eight acres.

Smithfield, which is derived from  'Smoothfield', was originally an open space located just outside the old city walls.  The site has great historical significance as the scene of tournaments, fairs, and the location of a horse and cattle market from the 12th to the 19th-century.  One of the most famous of all English annual fairs, St Bartholomew's, was held here every August, and attracted traders and customers from all over Europe.  Medieval fairs like St Bartholomew's tended to concentrate on single commodities, and the more important fairs contributed substantially to international trade.

Nearly 300 people were burnt at the stake at Smithfield in religious persecutions during the reign of Queen Mary.  It is not surprising, therefore, that numerous reports of groans, shrieks, and the sound of crackling flames have been made by startled pedestrians passing through the area late at night.

Up until the middle of the 19th-century all cattle sold at Smithfield were driven through the narrow and congested streets of central London.  At one time the number of beasts flowing in and out of the market amounted to 70,000 a week.  It was not until 1867 that a government statute placed restrictions on the droving of cattle through the capital's thoroughfares.  It was at this time that the present Central London.  Meat Market was constructed.  It was designed by Sir Horace Jones and is a Renaissance-style building consisting of iron and glass arcades fronted with red brick and flanked by domed towers.  To the west of the cattle market is the Poultry Market building, which was built in 1963 to replace a Victorian structure that was destroyed by fire in 1958.

The meat porter at Smithfield are traditionally called  'bummarees', and are highly skilled a t manoeuvring heavily-laden barrows through the bustle and hurly-burly of the early morning market.

SPITALFIELDS MARKET
Commercial Street
Named after the priory of St Mary Spital which was founded here in 1197, Spitalfields refers both to the area and to the wholesale market, which trades in fruit, vegetables and flowers.

The market covers five acres to the east of Liverpool Street Station, on a site which was once a Roman burial ground.  When Tudor brick makers were digging the clay for which this area was once famous, they found a number of stone coffins, pots and coins.  In 1682 Charles II granted letters-patent to John Balch and his heirs authorising them to hold a market here on two days each week. 

In those days Spitalfields was a fertile agricultural area, and the market sold all kinds of local produce together with goods made in the vicinity.  During the 18th and 19th-centuries Spitalfields was swallowed up by the dense ranks of urban housing which became some of the worst slums in London.  It was here that Jack the Ripper committed his last and most horrific murder.

The market site was bought in 1902 by the City Corporation, who built upon it the New Market buildings which were opened in 1928 by Queen Mary.  The buildings have been extensively modernised, and now provide stands for 150 wholesale merchants.  There are extensive underground chambers, used principally for ripening bananas, beneath the market.  Trading begins at 5:30am every weekday and is generally completed by 9am.

STREET MARKETS               

There is very little that cannot be purchased in London's street markets.  Items on display range from garish junk of dubious usefulness to antiques worth thousands of pounds; from sets of dinner services to some of the best meat and vegetable produce to be found in the country.  Many of the markets consist of no more than a few stalls at street corners, but some of them stretch for miles and are stamping grounds for many of London's most colourful characters.

BERWICK STREET MARKET
Berwick Street
This cheerful, cluttered market, with its stalls on either side of the road, runs through the heart of Soho.  The stallholders are noted for their generally good-humoured banter as they clamour to attract customers.  Fruit and vegetable stalls predominate here, but shellfish, clothing, and household goods are also available, and some of the stalls are attached to neighbouring shops.  The market is especially crowded at lunchtimes, as shoppers queue up at stalls which are reputed to sell some of the best quality fruit and vegetables in London.
Open:  Monday - Saturday

BRIXTON MARKET
Electric Avenue
As this market is set in an area with a large West Indian population, it is not surprising that many of its stalls are stocked with Caribbean fruit and vegetables.  There are also second-hand clothes and household goods stalls, and the entire market is enlivened by the compulsive rhythms of West Indian music.
Open:  Monday - Saturday,  (Wednesday am only)

CAMDEN PASSAGE
Camden Passage
A vigorous campaign conducted during the early 1960's raised funds which saved this areal from demolition.  It is a rich and varied mixture of antique shops and stalls, most of the latter appearing on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  A holiday atmosphere pervades the market, largely because the majority of the traders give the impression of thoroughly enjoying their work.  A few of the shopkeepers have been known to carry relaxation to the extreme by conducting their business from the Camden Head, the market's adopted pub, leaving a note on the shop door to direct prospective customers to their temporary premises.  The arcades of the market become very crowded on Saturdays, and only those arriving early can hope to find a bargain.  The goods on display are liberally sprinkled with bric-a brac and Victorian curios, but Camden Passage is as good a place as any for a wide variety of antiques, with dealers specialising in furniture, jewellery, prints, pottery, books, pub mirrors, period clothing, and silverware.
Open:  Monday - Saturday  (Sunday am only)

CHAPEL MARKET
White Conduit Street
This rather congested market is very popular with the locals at weekends.  Fruit and vegetables are always available, and there are usually stalls selling fish, groceries and household goods.
Open:  Monday - Sunday am  (Thursday am only)

CLUB ROW
Sclater Street
Children love this famous East End pet market, which is full of all the usual household pets as well as more exotic creatures such as crocodiles, and birds like humming-birds and toucans.  Resident RSPCA officials are on hand to give assessments of animals before they are purchased.
Open:  Sunday am

COLUMBIA ROAD MARKET
Shoreditch
An enormous variety of flowers, plants, and shrubs make this market a Mecca for all gardening enthusiasts.
Open:  Sunday am

DINGWALLS MARKET
Camden Lock
Many of the stalls here are presided over by young and enthusiastic traders.  Antiques, bric-a -brac, period and Asian clothes are generally available, and other are also craft and food stalls.
Open:  Saturday

EAST LANE MARKET
Walworth
This is an old established general market with some bric-a-brac stalls.  Plants, shrubs, and fruit are usually available on Sundays
Open:  Tuesday - Sunday am  (Thursday am only)

FARRINGDON ROAD
Clerkenwell
Second-hand books and prints cover the kerbside stalls here.  This was once a hunting ground for rare bargains, but most of the elderly gentlemen who rummaged eagerly through the piles of books are no longer in evidence.
Open:  Monday - Saturday

JUBILEE MARKET
Covent Garden
Partly under cover, this small general market opened in Covent Garden at about the time that Covent Garden Market moved to Nine Elms.  There are fruit, vegetable, and bric-a-brac stalls, but the greater part of this market contains souvenirs, clothes, craft, jewellery and record stalls.
Open:  Monday - Friday

LEADENHALL MARKET
Gracechurch Street
There has been a market in the general area of this site since the 14th-century, probably established by Edward III in an effort to stamp out a flourishing black market in poultry by compelling all sellers to congregate in the same place.  Whatever its origins, Leadenhall, which takes its name from the lead-roofed 14th-century mansion of Sir Hugh Neville that once stood nearby, was a thriving meat and poultry market by the mid 17th-century.  Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary that he purchased  'a leg of beef, a good one, for sixpence' here.  In 1881 Sir Horace Jones built the ornate glass-roofed arcade which covers the 70 or so shops between Leadenhall Street and Lime Street.  During the excavations it was discovered that the site occupies what was the centre of Roman London,  as the remains of the basilica and other administrative buildings were uncovered.  Formerly purely a wholesale market, today Leadenhall is open to the general public and, while still specialising in meat and poultry, also offers fish, vegetables and plants.  The Victorian arcade, containing cafes and pubs in contrast to the rows of carcasses which are suspended on tiers of hooks outside the shops, is noted for its old-time market atmosphere, and is a favourite haunt for City office workers, whether intent on buying, or simply watching the world go by.
Open:  Monday - Friday

LEATHER LANE
Holborn
Fruit, groceries, vegetable, clothing, household goods of all descriptions - particularly crockery - are always on display here, and some of the most vociferous and quick-witted stallholders in the capital provide a feast of noisy entertainment for the vast crowds who throng the market during the lunch-hour.  Bargains abound and the sight of an entire dinner service being expertly tossed in the air is a regular occurrence.
Open:  Monday - Friday

LOWER MARSH AND THE CUT
Lambeth
his busy general market nestles in the shadow of Waterloo Station and becomes very popular during the lunch period
Open:  Monday - Saturday  (Thursday am only)

NEW CALEDONIAN MARKET
Bermondsey Square
The old Caledonian Market moved to this site from Islington after the end of World War II, and its modern offspring is now primarily a dealers' antique market.  An enormous selection of articles is on view, set out on closely-packed stalls, but those in search of a bargain need to be early risers as a great deal of the trading takes place between 5am and 7am  (when the market officially opens).  Although something of a closed community, run principally by dealers for dealers, private collectors and casual visitors are made very welcome.  Bric-a -brac, silver, jewellery, clocks. pottery and porcelain are always available, and furniture, coins and medals are also featured, but stallholders tend to avoid specialisation, displaying oddments and curios of all descriptions.  A pleasant, friendly atmosphere pervades the market, which abounds in colourful and unusual characters.
Open:  Friday

NEWPORT PLACE
Soho
A busy general market where clothes are the predominant article on sale.
Open:  Monday - Saturday

NORTHCOTE ROAD
Battersea
A bustling fruit and vegetable market situated near Clapham Junction.
Open:  Monday - Saturday  (Wednesday am only)

NORTH END ROAD
Fulham
This general market specialises in fruit and vegetables, and flowers and plants are on sale during the summer months.  Other stalls in this cheerful market offer clothes and household goods.
Open:  Monday - Saturday  (Thursday am only)

PETTICOAT LANE
Middlesex Street
Middlesex Street lies to the north of Houndsditch, which was once the habitat of carpenters and glaziers, but is now filled with cur-price warehouses.  The street acquired the name Petticoat Lane during the 17th-century because of the number of old clothes dealers who congregated here.  Despite the fact that it officially became known as Middlesex Street as long ago as 1846 the old name has lived on, at least as far as the Sunday market is concerned.  It is one of the most famous of all London Markets, and opens around 9am, but all the stallholders begin to set up their premises about 7:30am before an interested audience of sightseers.  Despite its present-day cosmopolitan atmosphere, engendered by the Indian, West Indian and Jewish communities which are prevalent in the area, Petticoat Lane still retains its essential Cockney character.  The maze of stalls occupies every available corner, and there is very little in the way of household goods and clothes of every description that cannot be purchased.
Open:  Sunday am

PORTOBELLO ROAD
Notting Hill
Named after Puerto Bello on the Gulf of Mexico, where Admiral Vernon won a victory over the Spanish in 1735, Portobello Road has been noted for its antique shops and stalls since the 1950's.  It reached the height of its fame during the late 1960's and early 1970's when it became the centre of London's hippy community.  The atmosphere has changed now, although it is just as bizarre, with a heady mixture of shoppers, punks, surviving hippies, antique collectors, tourists and eccentrics belonging to no identifiable group.  A general market with fruit, vegetable and meat stalls operates all the week, but it is on Saturdays that all the stalls and arcades are opened.  The stalls and shops, of which there are more than 2,000, contain all kinds of furniture, clothes, jewellery, ancient gramophones and records, books, bottles, coins, medals, toys, a great deal of Victoriana and an endless selection of junk.  Buskers, street singers, photographers  (some with monkeys), and street performers jostle with and cajole the crowds.  Reggae and punk music fills the air in some parts of the road, and everywhere there are sounds of usually good-natured haggling.  It is rare to find a genuine bargain in the antique stalls at the lower end of the road these days, since all the traders are experts, but real finds can sometimes be made amongst the piles of junk on the stalls beyond the Westway Flyover.
Open:  Monday - Saturday  (Thursday am only)

RIDLEY ROAD
hackney
One of the better known of London's East End markets, the stalls here are patronised by the local Jewish and West Indian communities.  It is a general market, with many fruit and vegetable stalls, and becomes very crowded on Saturdays
Open:  Tuesday - Saturday  (Thursday am only)

ROMAN ROAD
Tower Hamlets
a busy market with stalls on either side of the road.  There is a good variety of wares, and a   'pie and mash'  shop provides traditional Cockney refreshment.
Open:  Monday  (am only) - Saturday

SHEPHERD'S BUSH
Stalls specialising in West Indian food, pets and household goods will be found in the market here.  It extends as far as Goldhawk Road beside a railway viaduct
Open:  Wednesday, Friday and Saturday

WALTHAMSTOW
The High Street
This extensive general market straggles along either side of Walthamstow's main street.  It is particularly busy on Thursdays.
Open:  Monday - Saturday  (Wednesday am only)

WEMBLEY STADIUM
Wembley
A large open-air market is held here every Sunday on part of the stadium car park.  A large variety of goods is sold, and usually there is free parking.
Open:  Sunday am

WENTWORTH STREET
Tower Hamlets
This general market is engulfed by Petticoat Lane on Sundays.  For the rest of the week it caters for locals, and has some excellent stalls selling Jewish and West Indian foods.
Open:  Daily

WHITECHAPEL ROAD
Tower Hamlets
Stalls line the pavements of this famous East End thoroughfare, multiplying on Saturdays when the market really comes to life.
Open:  Monday - Saturday

WHITECROSS STREET
Islington
A busy market which caters, to a large extent, for lunch-time shoppers.  it is particularly crowded on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Open:  Monday - Saturday

WOOLWICH MARKET
Beresford Square
This small market is very popular and has a wide variety of stalls.
open:  Monday - Saturday  (Thursday am only)

GREEN LONDON               

Escape from the crowded streets of London lies within the capital itself.  It is in the cultivated  'wilderness'  of the great parks; the secluded shrubberies of the squares; in the riverside walks and gardens, and through the ancient gates of the Inns of Court.  Even more so, it is in the marvellous breathing spaces of London's heaths, commons, and the wonderfully unspoiled crescent of Epping Forest.  London may well be one of the greenest cities on earth, and the greenness keeps it sane.

THE ROYAL PARKS

ST JAMES'S PARK
Here, on the fringe of one of London's busiest shopping and entertainment centres, is a a green oasis of peace.

St James's is a reminder of the countryside, a great contrast to the city greyness that surrounds it.  In Autumn it is one of the few places in the West End where the commuter can see the first frosts; in summer it is full of relaxing office workers, many of whom have made a habit of feeding the park's flourishing population of birds.

Medieval St James's was a vastly different place, a brooding, marshy waste where the morning breeze stirred mist round a hospital for female lepers.  Things changed in the 16th-century when Henry VIII swept away the hospital, built St James's Palace and converted the surrounding area into a deer park.  The Stuart kings drained the marsh and formed the lake, and Charles II transformed the land into a Versaille-type formal garden.  At this time the lake was a featureless strip known as the Canal, but it was waterscaped i  1828 when the great architect John Nash was employed to remodel the park.  Today pleasant walks and paths thread through a mixture of flower borders, shrubs and trees.  The nucleus of the park is formed by the lake, which is almost oriental in flavour with its fringe of weeping willows and resident ornamental ducks floating serenely upon it.  Duck Island in the centre provides a lush haven for water birds, the  most famous being the pelicans which parade its banks with a proprietary air.

GREEN PARK
This is indeed a green park.  Its close turf, graduating towards a more carefree rankness round the roots of lovely old trees, might have been borrowed from the sheep-cropped slopes of the Sussex Downs.  There are no flowerbeds, though in springtime the grass is sprinkled with the flowers of daffodils and crocuses.  There is no visible water in the park, but the Tyburn Stream flows just beneath the surface and is the reason for the park's verdancy.

Just across the thin tarmac boundary of The Mall is St James's Park, but even without the road the two areas would be distinct from one another.  It is easy to forget their shared history in picturesque St James's, where the magical combination of water and flowers makes the memory of violent crimes that have been enacted on its lawns.  In the slightly severe greenness of Green Park, however, stories of past events spring easily to mind.

The ghosts of duellists battle in the damp shadows of the trees at twilight, the slightest breeze entices an almost human sigh from the gnarled plane tree near Piccadilly, and occasionally the setting sun turns patches of grass an unsettling red.

The times of violence have gone from the park now, along with Charles II's constitutional stroll that gave its name to Constitution Hill, and the walls of the ice house that he built to keep his wines cool in summer.

HYDE PARK
Hyde Park merges imperceptibly with Kensington Gardens, which makes it seem a lot larger than it is , but there is a marked character difference between the two parks.

Before Henry VIII enclosed the area as a hunting chase, the park was a wild tract of countryside that once formed part of a vast primeval forest.  It was watered by the little River Westbourne, a tributary of the Thames.  After it was dammed to form the enchanting Serpentine lake the Westbourne vanished underground.

The Serpentine is undoubtedly the main feature of the park.  It is the habitat of wild creatures that find scant sanctuary elsewhere in the city centre.  It is also a source of pleasure to humankind, a large silvery flatness that rests easy on the eye and murmurs to the dip of oars or swish of sailing dinghies.  Its shrub-covered islands are the homes of breeding waterfowl, sanctuaries guarded from the tread of man.  At the eastern end of the Serpentine is the Dell, often considered the park's most picturesque feature.  At its centre is a large block of granite called the Standing Stone; it is in fact all that remains of a 19th-century drinking fountain.

Here the horse is still welcome, whether it be of the King's Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery come to fire a salute, or a civilian out for a casual canter along the Route du Roi - now known as Rotten Row.  There was once an enclosure in the park called The Tour where courtiers drove a circular route in an ostentatious parade of fashion.  Ever since the Stuart Kings threw open the gates, Hyde has been a people's park.  Its history is one of gaiety, of racing and sports, folk dancing, and minor self indulgence.  This spirit of relaxed tolerance, of democratic freedom, is nowhere more typified than at Speaker's Corner.  Here, at the Marble Arch corner of the park, anyone can stand up and say just what they please, so long as they can tolerate the remarks of their audience.

KENSINGTON GARDENS
The boundary between Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, which were one and the same place before William III enclosed his palace garden, runs north to sough across the Serpentine Bridge.  Both parks have the Serpentine waters in common, though in Kensington Gardens it is called The Long Water.

It is not until the walker has penetrated some distance into the gardens that the individual characteristics of the areas become apparent.

The gardens become more orderly.  The manicured greenery of Hyde Park gives way to colourful regimentation.  Avenues of trees shade the pathways, and sculpture adds excitement to the views.  Kensington Palace is the focal point providing a dignity characterised by the unmistakable workmanship of Sir Christopher Wren, which can be glimpsed through a cloak of trees.  The beautiful sunken gardens round the rectangular pond in front of the palace is the culmination.

There is fantasy here too.  In the children's playground the pixies and other small creatures of Ivor Innes' imagination rampage over the Elphin Oak in the frozen motion of carved wood near playground swings donated by the writer J M Barrie.  A statue of Barrie's eternal youth Peter Pan stands beside The Long Water, and serves as a reminder of his enchanting story, much of which is set in the gardens.  The tranquillity of Kensington Gardens is as deliberate as its formality; note the  'sail only' rule for model boats on the Round pond.

REGENT'S PARK
After the execution of Charles I, the great royal hunting ground of Marylebone Park fell into the hands of Oliver Cromwell, who sold its timber and deer to pay his war debts.  Further erosion occurred when Charles II sold leases on the ground to various noblemen, and it was not until the early 19th-century that any attempt was made to regain what had been lost.  Then, however, it became part of the Prince Regent's grand design for a vast neo-classical redevelopment under the talented hand of John Nash - hence  'Regent's' Park.  Nash's original plans were never completed.  That would have meant building on the park itself, and the Prince Regent decided that the open space was preferable to more development.  The focus of the overall design was the Inner Circle.  This now encloses the lovely Queen Mary's Garden, which has an attractive little lake, cascades of delicate and many-hued rockery plants, and one of the most beautiful rose gardens in the capital.

The subterranean Tyburn River fills the lake and pours into the boating pond from the only visible stretch on its route to the Thames.

The park's other waterway, the Regent's Canal, makes a much more definite impact on the landscape.  A pleasure-boat service carries passengers to Regent's Park Zoo from the terminal in Little Venice.  The elegant charm of the park is enhance by several Victorian garden ornaments, notably two large flower vases on the Broad Walk.  Near the lake is a group of fossil tree trunks which are the only surviving reminders that the Royal Botanical Gardens were once situated here.  The park has many public amenities, including games fields, facilities for archery and tennis and sailing on the lake.

PRIMROSE HILL
Once part of the same hunting forest as its neighbour, Regent's Park, Primrose Hill retains in its name the rural character that it undoubtedly had in the past.  It lost a great deal of its charm during World War II, when it was cleared and used for allotments, bit it is gradually recovering its attractiveness.  The view from the summit is panoramic and encompasses virtually the whole of central London.

The hill's height made it prominent in the otherwise flat farmland that surrounded it, and it became an obvious place for the quenching of revenge by dark deed or duel.

In 1842 it gained gaslights, a gymnasium, and respectability as a Royal park.  It also gained a fence to keep the public out, but nowadays its 62 acres are open to anybody wishing to enjoy them.

GREENWICH PARK
It is difficult to consider Greenwich Park without involving the magnificent Wren buildings that rise from the foot of the valley.  it is a matter of taste; those interested in architecture will find the park an apt foil to those masterly designs, while others might thank providence that they complement rather than spoil the Thames-side greenness lapping at their walls.

The park was enclosed in medieval times, used as a hunting chase by the Tudor monarchs, and formalised by the Stuarts, Several tumuli, traces of a Roman villa, and records of a castle demolished by Charles II show that the area now occupied by the park was inhabited fairly constantly from prehistoric times.

The most extensive changes were made by the great French landscaper Le Notre, who was commissioned by Charles II.  His love of symmetry, and of the straight line opposed by the curve, is very much in keeping with another of the park's aspects - as a place of science.  Here stood the old Royal Observatory, now pensioned off as a museum, and here also is the Meridian - a stone-set strip of brass that marks zero degrees Longitude, the point on which such measurements all around the world are based.

Away from all this, in the park's eastern corner, is the Wilderness, 13 acres of bracken and wild flowers inhabited by a herd of fallow deer.  Close by is a delightful flower garden.  Everywhere there are trees, and the sense of not being far from running water.  On the park's northern perimeter is the largest children's playground in any of the Royal Parks, facilities for cricket and football near the Ranger's House,and, in the centre of the park, the historic 20 foot stump of Queen Elizabeth's Oak.

RICHMOND PARK
This vast tract of virtually wild countryside on the very doorstep of London's urban sprawl remains from an ancient forest that once covered much of southern England.

Charles I enclosed the park area as part of a royal estate, and successive monarchs have shaped the land to suit their hunting needs.  The deer that they so avidly sought no longer display the furtive timidness of the hunted.  Instead they wander unharmed among copses and spinneys high above the Thames Valley, and are not averse to bullying the picnicking tourist into parting with a sandwich or two.  The ultimate irony must be the deer's freedom of the slopes of King Henry VIII's Mound, which the monarch had built so that he could watch their slaughter.

In the 18th-century severe restrictions on public access to Richmond Park were imposed by the Crown, but - thanks to a brewer called John Lewis - today's public can wander there at will.  Lewis fought to preserve a public right of way through the park, and won.

A formal garden can be seen a Pembroke Lodge, and the various plantations show a wealth of exotic shrubs and wild flowers.  Model sail boats are allowed on Adam's Pond, where the deer drink, and 18-acre pen Ponds have been specially made for angling  (a fishing permit is required).

HAMPTON COURT
Before Macadam made the biggest single revolution in road building since the Romans, the River Thames was the main access to London.  That, and the sylvan beauty of its wild valley, must have been the deciding factors in Cardinal Wolsey's choice of site for Hampton Court, the most magnificent house of the Tudor age.

Nestling inside an elbow of Britain's premier river is an outstanding collection of formal gardens and little architectural conceits - stunning herbaceous borders and long, shaded walks lined by ancient trees.  The combination of flowers, statues, and fountains in the Privy Garden is considered to show formal gardening at its very best, and the heady breath of the elaborate Herb Garden intoxicates the senses.

There is water here too.  The magnificent Long Water was created by Charles II in French-canal style, and the very old Pond Garden demonstrates that strange, botanical no-man's land between dry and submerged habitats.

The Rose Garden grows in what was once the hoof-hammered lists of Henry VIII's Tiltyard, and the modern Knot Garden recreates the almost tortured complexity that was sought after by gardeners during the 16th-century.

Above all Hampton Court is a place of opposites, contrasts that are summed up in just two of its features - the charming Wilderness dell which is surrounded by a carpet of daffodils in springtime and the geometric perfection of the famous Maze.

BUSHY PARK
Hampton Court Road separates its namesake park from less formal acres of Bushy park, an engagingly pastoral area that recreates the seeming randomness of the real countryside.  With one notable exception, that is - Sir Christopher Wren's magnificent Chestnut Avenue.  This superb double row of enormous trees is best seen in spring, when the candle-like blooms for a frothy pink and white line that bisects the park from north to south.

Close to the Hampton Court end of the avenue is the Diana Fountain, which once stood in the grounds of the great house, but now marks the junction of the chestnut way with an avenue of limes.  the latter is a smooth, formal highway through an otherwise wild part of the park.

North of the limes is the Longford River.  Although it looks entirely natural, it was in fact built on the order of Charles I to supply Hampton Court with water, and still feeds many of the park's water features.  At one point it flows through the mature woodland and picturesque glades of Waterhouse Plantation, where it hurls itself over an artificial ledge in the heart of one of the most beautiful rural retreats in the country.

Most visitors to the park congregate near the cricket ground and children's playground - both well worth visiting, but not to the exclusion of all else.  Bushy House, a handsome 18th-century building, contains the National Physical Laboratory.

THE PUBLIC PARKS

KEW GARDENS
London Zoo may be the showcase of the animal kingdom, but when it comes to plants there is nowhere to beat the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.  Here, firmly established on 300 acres of Thames-side London, are exotics from all over the world - the mice and the mammoths of botany.

The garden's facilities for research are unrivalled, but it is not as a purely scientific establishment that Kew is known.  The great beauty and strangeness of its charges are part of London legend, and its earthen  'laboratory' beds have been laid out to be pleasing to the eye.

The first nine acres of gardens were laid out by George III's mother, Princess Augusta, some 200 years ago, and they really began to flourish during the reign of her son.  Their present-day success is largely due to the eminent 19th-century botanist Sir Joseph Banks, a close friend of the king, who worked with Head Gardener William Aiton to lay the basis for the superb collection that now exists.  Royal patronage continued, even after the gardens came into public ownership in 1841.  Today's visitors can be thankful for this as they enjoy the conserved wildness of the Queen's Cottage and grounds - a gift from Queen Victoria.

The largest living collection in the gardens is the Arboretum, where many species of trees and shrubs grow harmoniously.  The Tropical and Palm Houses are interesting too, while magnificent flower borders of the Herbaceous Section are a constant delight.  Great cushions of alpines grow amongst sandstone outcrops and beside the stream of the Rock Garden, and the woodland garden around The Mound exudes a green coolness that is at once relaxing and tonic.

SYON PARK
Close to Kew Gardens in spirit, but divided from it by the waters of the Thames, is Syon Park - the country's first national gardening centre.

Its horticultural reputation goes back to the 16th-century, when the use of trees as purely decorative contributions to its layout was looked upon with amazement.  The park that exists today, however, is the work of that master of landscape design - 'Capability' Brown.  As such it is a valuable cultural record, as well as a beautiful retreat from the bustle of modern town life.

There is water in plenty.  The capital's major artery flows sedately past the 16th-century exterior of Syon House, and the picturesque lake supports large colonies of water-loving plants.  Here beauty is combined with practicality.

The focal point of Syon, if not the house, must certainly be the Great Conservatory.  This vast crescent of metal and glass, with small pavilions at either end and a lofty central dome, was the first construction of its type in the world.  It was also the inspiration for the ill-fated Crystal Palace, but apart from all this it houses one of the finest private collections of tropical plants in the country.  It is the only place in Britain where the coconut palm has reached full maturity.  Here the visitor will find the rare and the exotic, but will also recognise the familiar house plants that nestle behind curtains on millions of window ledges throughout Britain.

A particularly beautiful - if somewhat overwhelming - feature of the park is the six-acre Rose Garden.  At the appropriate time of year some 1,200 of these queens among flowers assault the eye with their unselfconscious colour.

All this, just nine miles from the centre of London, is open to the public - though admittance to the house and park is by separate entrances.

OSTERLEY PARK
Osterley is indeed a  'green lung' for London, or at least for the city's heavily built-up western suburbs.  Nearby the M4 motorway carries its never-ending metallic stream into the warrens of the capital, growling to itself in a constant monotone of labouring car and lorry engines.  Yet nothing detracts from the park.

Its delightfully informal landscape preserves the character and tranquillity of the English countryside.  The 120 acres of level ground that it covers have been cleverly and sympathetically landscaped so that the flatness is not apparent.  Trees have been planted singly and in copses to break the lie of the land still further, and the whole is complemented by enhancing lakes.

Osterley House - the reason for all this carefully contrived rurality - stands amid smooth lawns and fragrant stands of old cedars.  The building that can be seen today owes much of its appearance to the architect Robert Adam, who refaced the original 16th-century structure in the mid 18th-century.  It was originally built by the Tudor financial wizard Sir Thomas Gresham, the richest merchant of his times and a firm favourite of Queen Elizabeth I.

The house and park complement each other well.  Adam's elegant lines rise grandly from the formal gardens laid out around the house, throwing the  'wild' parkland into a rugged relief that it might not have achieved on its own.  Both house and grounds are open to the public.

HOLLAND PARK
Less than 30 years ago Holland Park was the garden of a private house, and even now it retains that air of intimacy that is so peculiar to the inviolate.  Its flock of peacocks and gaggle of geese mount solemn guard for long-gone inhabitants of the house, and visitors stroll on smooth lawns where open-air Kensington teas may have been held not too many summers ago.

In the 18th and 19th-centuries the house here was a popular meeting place for the literacy and political personalities of the day.  Only part of it now faces across the elegant quadrangle that it once dominated, but it is easy to imagine the intellectuals of the time threading through lighted rooms at the end of a summer evening.  Macauley called Holland Park the  'Favourite resort of wits and beauties, painters and poets, scholars, philosophers, and statesmen'.  Such people, jaded by the effort of creation or wearied by their excursions into the labyrinthine politics of high social life, must have found the park easy on the eye and relaxing to the mind.

That feeling remains, though the sparkling company and locked gates have gone.  In springtime the Dutch and Iris Gardens are a constant delight to the visitor - especially the person who has unexpectedly stumbled upon this strange little haven while lost in the masonry heart of Kensington.  Other flowerbeds show a wide range of plants, including the original Caroling Testout roses, and a charming show of native British plants.  Also here is a yucco garden, where the Mexican yucca plant guards its delicate clusters of white flowers with bunches of spear-like leaves.

In contrast with the formal path-and-lawn layout, given a military air by the uniformed nannies who take their small charges for walks here, is the free-play area.  This is woodland that has been left to its own devices for the benefit of older children.

BATTERSEA PARK
Amongst the attractions in this riverside park are a deer park, sub-tropical garden, and wildflower garden.  Facilities specifically for children include playing fields, a small zoo and a miniature railway.

CRYSTAL PALACE PARK
This 70-acre park is named after the huge glass-and-iron structure that was built in 1851 for the Great Exhibition.  It was moved here from Hyde Park in 1854, and destroyed by fire in 1936.  Situated in the park, whose hill-side site commands extensive views, is an Olympic-standard swimming pool and a superb sports stadium.