Due to the quick pace of my tour de force, I have only five days in London. And although that seems like an extended stay, there is plenty to see in London. As I arrived at the weekend, I started my tour de force with London’s markets. Now as most people know, I find it difficult to walk past a market even if it’s about 10 stalls in Ulladulla and it’s raining so London was like a dream come true for me.
I started with Camden Markets. Sure, their hey day may have been almost two decades ago in the early 90s when grunge brought back flares on pants and lapels and everyone worth their salt came home from their year living in London’s Earl’s Court with a second hand brown suede coat from Camden Markets. There weren’t quite as many suede coats – they’re now called ‘vintage’ and are found everywhere throughout London but more on that later. What Camden did have was loads and loads of different markets with a range of products from antiques to jewellery to T-shirts to all manner of goth-wear. And unlike the markets in Australia, it’s all different and lots of it is handcrafted. And the food is glorious. I took this opportunity to have my London curry for a number of reasons – the curries all looked fantastic, markets was the perfect setting for a curry indulgence and I imagined here in Camden Town was where some of my musical heroes scoffed down a late night curry after a gig.
You see, I hadn’t just come to Camden for the markets. This was the part of north London that Madness came from. It was where they played and the streets around here featured in many of their songs. And it’s not hard to see why the ska sound took hold here. There is a heavy Caribbean tradition here from the restaurants to the population. I wandered around for a while far from the markets and (predictably) what claims to be the first doc martens store. I say predictably because before docs became the favoured footwear of grunge, they were worn by rude boys and girls, usually cherry reds like one of the pairs I have at home. And before everyone puts rude boys and skinheads (a-la- Romper Stomper) in the same basket, originally the look and the music was not associated with the National Front – ska was a musical style with its roots in the Caribbean and most of the bands included black members. Primrose Hill, Arlington Road, Camden Town – the places were all here. I also walked down to Camden Loch where Madness launched their infamous Thames barge gig from. [ ‘One Better Day’ – Madness This song mentions lots of places I saw like Arlington House and Camden Loch.]
The area is working class with a mixture of terraced houses and high rise estates. My favourite store (apart from the doc shop) was Camden Road Motors servicing British and Continental motors. The long-sleeping goth in me also gave way and I bought a skirt. I haven’t a clue what I’m going to wear it with, although I had ideas of turning it in to a dress – see I go overseas and get all creative.
From Camden I headed to the Portobello Road Markets in Notting Hill. Like the suburbs surrounding them, these were more upmarket markets (although the really cool ring I bought that professed to be silver is actually plated rather than sterling so upmarket doesn’t necessary mean quality). The markets stretched along the sides of Portobello Road for kilometers – in the middle some reasonably sad looking fruit and vegetables. And more antiques. And ‘vintage’ clothing and then just the kind of crap you find at trash and treasure. Notting Hill is just the sort of place you would expect to find Hugh Grant – gentile, leafy and clean, even with the markets. [‘Bed and Breakfast Man’ – Madness – this was the first Madness song I really loved. I had listened to them on radio a lot and then a friend lent me his copy of Complete Madness and I was hooked.]
From here I headed to the south bank of the Thames to the Borough Market – the sister market of the one I had seen in Barcelona. I got there pretty late, just in time for a quick tour but I can report although it was impressive and has a legendary status among London foodies, the Barcelona market blows it out of the water. It is, however in an interesting part of town, just near the London Bridge tube station in an area that saw plenty of prisons during the early years of London.
After the borough market, it was time to call it a day and tired and very cold – it may have been 10 degrees but there is a very cold wind that blows through London – physically, not metaphorically.
A word here on London’s tube network. Despite reports, I found the tube to be a convenient, cheap, easy and clean way to get around London. There are tube stations everywhere and it’s not too difficult to change between lines. On the weekend I was doing the markets, the city line was completely out of action due to engineering work but I managed to get around easily. The London Underground Map (which is itself a design icon) is a very useful tool and yes they really do tell you to mind the gap at stations. They also issue warnings about pickpockets or beggars operating on the trains.
On day two I started out having a lazy day and doing a couple of loads of washing. After that I set out for the Spitafields markets, renowned as the place to find young designers and some excellent vintage buys. Vintage has been really big in London for the past few years and consequently everywhere you turn, there’s a store selling vintage clothing. And like their counterparts at Gorman House Markets, they clean out the charity shops. The difference in London is that because there are so many vintage stores you a) find some great stuff and b) don’t always have to pay through the nose for it. However, like the Gorman House traders, they only stock clothes for the svelte or up to about size 12 or 14. Note to self: do some fat clothes research before traveling. [‘House of Fun’ – Madness. One of two Madness songs to appear in The Young Ones (still one of the best TV shows of all time). Fun fact – Madness were the only band to appear on The Young Ones twice – this was in ‘Boring’ and Our House featured in the ‘Sick’ episode.]
Arriving in Spitafields, I also came across a Madonna exhibition, which featured a range of her outfits, including outfits from Evita and some of the shows. And yes I paid to go see it. For those who are unaware, I am a Madonna fan. Yes, I know that is terribly uncool if you’re not gay or under 15 but I don’t care. I went to the Girly Show tour, I know all the moves to Vogue and I lived in a house where the Erotica coffee table book was actually on the coffee table (albeit purchased my my gay housemate).
The exhibition was worthwhile, even just to see the infamous tassled bustier. What was even more interesting were some of the handwritten notes and the contracts. I was particularly intrigued by the signed contract for a magazine interview and the copy of her divorce petition against Sean Penn.
When I left the exhibition it was pouring rain so I headed for the fancy new covered market. There were loads of stalls with clothes from all sorts of designers as well as jewellery and some vintage clothing. As with the other markets, each stall was selling something different to the last. This was a really swank market – with restaurants around the edges. Apparently some of the innovative traders had moved into empty warehouses when the market was redone and the rents raised. So I set off to find the other markets – there were at least two others as large as the first as well as people trading on the side of the street. Here I also found DJs playing and selling their wares.
Spitafields and Shoreditch apparently used to be industrial areas but when the industry moved out, the artists, bohemians and young creatives moved into the cheap warehouse spaces. Consequently this area is buzzing with creativity but is also dirty and haphazard and full of vintage stores. In fact in an area at one end of Brick Lane I came across five vintage stores in a row. Some were well overpriced but I did manage to find a bargain. I bought a dress for five pounds. It has an exquisite patterned velvet and doesn’t fit me but I already have a plan to alter it.
The other end of Brick Lane is famous for its curry houses. The problem is that while the standard of the curries has decreased, the number of touts or curry pimps has increased exponentially. As soon as you walk past, they are trying to hassle you to go inside. It wasn’t really the curry experience I was looking for and besides I had already had a great curry in Camden Town. After a few hours wandering about Shoreditch in the pouring rain, I decided it was time to head back to the hostel.
My hostel, which was international student accommodation was in a great location right next to Great Portland street Station (on the circle line tow stops west of Kings Cross), was clean and had clean working showers. The only problem was the bed. I have never before encountered a mattress that was actually lumpy. This one was and it was on one of those really old wire bed bases. On the first night, even though I was incredibly tired, I found it really hard to sleep. Curiously though, the longer I stayed, the more I got used to it.
On my way back from the station, I noticed one of the two local pubs served a Sunday Roast, (exclusively on a Sunday). I decided this was the perfect meal choice on a rainy wintry English night. It was roast beef and came with Yorkshire pudding, gravy and roast vegetables. I added a pint of Guinness to wash it down with. It was just what was required. I sat in the warm pub and swatted up on what to see the following day.