Camden's Markets

CAMDEN

Camden Lock, Buck Street, Electric Ballroom, Chalk Farm Road, Camden High Street, NWI (see individual markets),

Transport: & Camden Town, Chalk Farm; * Camden Road; buses 24, 27, 29, 31, 46, 134, 135, 168, 214, 253, 274, C2.

Open: 5ee individual markets for details. Best time to go: About loam on Sunday. Parking: Try the side streets north of the Chalk Farm Road, but expect a long walk. Main wares: Secondhand clothes, designer clothes and jewellery, antiques, books, crafts,furniture.

Specifics: Street fashion and accessories.

If you arrive at Camden tube never having visited the market before, it won't take you long to get your bearingseveryone is walking in the same direction. Some smell of joss sticks and have spangly trousers; many have the fast, urgent walk of those who don't want to miss anything. You are heading for London's biggest weekly street festival. Along Camden High Street, north of the tube station, there's a carnival atmosphere. The road is jammed with traffic as crowds overflow from the pavements. Shops and cafes join in the street life by placing their wares outside, and hawkers use any available space to milk the passing throng.

Camden market first opened in 1974 at a disused timber wharf beside the Regent's Canal. At first it consisted of craftsworkers who had colonized the Victorian waterside warehouses, selling their goods in the old cobbled yard. Since then it has grown alarmingly, sprouting new shoots at half a dozen sites around Camden. It now vies with Petticoat Lane and Portobello Road for the title of London's most famous market. And for popularity Camden wins hands down, attracting hundreds of thousands of people each week. The market came into being after the British institutions of churchgoing and Sunday lunch had crumbled, so, unlike the older East End Sunday markets, it continues into the afternoons and reaches a zenith at zpm when its clubbing regulars have woken up and are ready for the day.

The traditional fruit and veg market of Inverness Street is also in the centre of Camden. It is quite different in character from the weekend clothes and crafts market, so is listed separately.

Electric Ballroom

Camden High Street, south of junction with Dewsbury Terrace, NW1. Open Sun 10am-5pm.

The Electric Ballroom,just north of Camden tube, is a deeply dark nightclub that opens its doors on Sundays for clothes trading, and occasionally on Saturdays for record fairs. As you trawl through stalls laden with PVC, leather and fringed suede, to the sound of mournful indie music, it can begin to feel as if you're entering some sort of nightmarish 1980s alternative reality. If you like hair lacquer and extraneous buckles on your shoes, you'll feel right at home. Otherwise, there's probably little to detain you. There are some interesting items:Jesus-print T-shirts with matching crown of thorns jewellery catch the eye, but there are too many tired Sid Vicious, skull or Che Guevara motifs - and surely nobody wears lace gloves any more?

At the entrance there is a bureau de change, and just inside is a man selling stripy tights, socks and leggings which he claims will make you look as if you're in the 1980s film Fame - if that appeals.

The PVC merchants a re joined by those entrepreneurs who trawl the jumble sales and charity shops of England for 1950S stilettos, 1960s zoot suits and 1970S skinny-ribbed sweaters - anything retro, in fact. One stall has been here for years, selling entire men's outfits: suits, shirts and ties, ranging from early 1960s FBIstyle black suits to late 1960s lounge-lizard velvet jackets.

Modern clothing is also sold, including furry coats, bags and skirts in psychedelic colours. Diversions from clothes shopping are provided by DJs selling club-mix tapes, and record stalls.

Camden Market

Camden High Street, NW1, Open daily 9am- 5·30pm.

This is one of the most crowded parts of the market, and it can get quite claustrophobic in the narrow alleyways between stalls. It is still worth heading into the den, though, if you're after clothing or jewellery. But be warned: the Carnaby Street process is well underway here, turning street cred into straight crud.

Some of the prices are plain daft: secondhand flared jeans cost as much as £25. There are also the wax coats, Doc Marten boots (£39.99), cheap jewellery (one man will give you a 'special price' for body-piercing jewellery) and watches, and the leather belts, popular with heavy metal fans, that can all be found at many London markets for a good deal less. If you're prepared to squeeze yourself through the crush, though, you might discover a few gems: jolly handbags and hats made from recycled clothes; secondhand boots and shoes; secondhand suede jackets for only £15; old leather and velvet jackets at £10 each. As well as fashionwear, there are a couple of stalls displaying hippyish artefacts, record stalls, and a trader specializing in music videos.

Camden Lock

Camden Lock Place, off Chalk Farm Road, NW1, t (020) 72842084. Open daily 10am-8pm, some stalls open throughout the week.

This is where Camden market started in 1974. If you arrive early on a fine day, it's still a place of great charm. Longboats chug down the canal watched by couples relaxing on the banks; traders layout their wares on stalls in the cobbled yard; and buskers playa few chords before the crowds arrive. By midday, however, the lock is choked with people and its layout, confusing at the best of times, takes on an almost labyrinthine quality.

The Lock market was started by craftsworkers selling their handmade goods, but nowadays artisans are a minority among the 400 or so traders. Businesses here have become prosperous, more conformist and consequently less exciting. New clothes as well as old are sold, and many traders in Andean, Asian or African artefacts and clothes seem to be professional importers. Yet there are stalls still worth finding: don't miss the pitch full of percussion instruments, from African talking drums to Irish bodhrans, or the hand-crafted ocarinas (pot flutes); and there's always some new handmade jewellery to be examined.

As you walk north along Camden High Street, the first part of the market to come into view, overlooking the canal, is the East Yard, where you will find the complex's highest concentration of basic tat. Patchwork flares, CDs, model cars and bicycles made out of drinks cans (a Beetle car made out of Heineken cans costs £8), soapstone buddhas, leather bags and cheap silver jewellery are among the more inspiring items.

Moving northward,you enter the Market Hall, an impressive building with elaborate wrought-ironwork, tiled floors and stalls on each of its three floors. The East Yard is level with the first floor, where you will find crafts from around the world, bought cheap and sold dear: Indonesian batik, stone sculptures from Africa, cassette tapes from Latin America. Local craftsworkers get a look-in here as well, with hand-painted plant pots, jewellery and glassware. There's also a stall selling custom-made soaps of various technicolour designs by the slice (£3-50 each). Upstairs is what could be termed the interactive section. Here you can get tarot readings, alternative therapy, henna tattoos and piercings. On the ground floor is a fairly good bookstall selling new fiction, a man selling blow-up see-through plastic furniture, and his friend whose stock consists entirely of lacquered backgammon boards. Part of this hall leads to Oingwalls Gallery, where there is a toilet and shop where you can buy jewellery, old pub optics, teddy bears and Indian cushions. Shops line the outside of the market hall; most of these, and several of the indoor businesses, trade through the week.

Moving west from Dingwalls Gallery, you come to the Middle Yard, the largest of the three yards and the one with the greatest range of goods. Toy boats, painted lightbulbs, didgeridoos, back massagers and hammocks can all be found in amongst the rows of stalls, as can new clothes from young designers (bright mini-skirts, tops in unbleached fabrics), designer jewellery, furry leopardskin beanbags, knitwear, kinky leatherwear, pink furry handcuffs and multicultural fast food. There is also space for the part-timers who make food and drinktosell here.Oneweekyou might find organic carrot cake, the next spiced cider and home-made lemonade.

Further west, across a small stretch of canal, is the final part of the market, the West Yard, where you can find more of the same. The first stall you'll encounter sells ocarinas, the second rainsticks. After that it's art prints, furry bags, Indian crafts, bongo drums, mosaic mirrors, bean bags, jewellery, clothes, Afghan and Turkman rugs ... Unfortunately, if you've followed the above route,you're probably suffering from a little market fatigue by now. Handily, there is a very pleasant cafe on the south side of the Yard where you can recuperate with coffee and a pastry.

Camden Canal Market

Off Chalk Farm Road, south ofjunction with Castlehaven Road, NW. Open Sat and Sun 10am-8pm.

This outcrop of the market is reached down a sloping covered walkway opposite Camden Lock. The dawdling crowd peruses the clothes, electrical goods, jewellery and reggae stalls on either side of the walkway. One trader has a serene expression and a stock of pot-pipes. At the end of this corridor is an outside courtyard filled with stalls. There are some secondhand clothes, but most garmentsincluding colourful shirts and Latin American knitwear - are new. One trader even sells wax jackets and green welliessymbols of the landed elite, here in Alternative Camden.

Off the courtyard, an indoor section contains dozens of stalls full of all manner of secondhand goods, plus a few tacky new things. In unsung parts of Camden like this,you can still happen upon a goldmine. Lovers of old Western books will find a stall dedicated to their passion (look out for the Hopalong Cassidy series). And if you agree that Britain's prime contribution to world culture is the public house, head for Pub Paraphernalia, a stall packed with genuine artefacts from British boozers - such as tankards and Guinness water jugs - as opposed to the bogus pub signs found at some tourist markets. There's even a stall selling a few second- hand Levi's for £10: the lowest price in Camden. There are fake fur coats for £9, wig and hair extensions and a stall selling bizarre underwear. Madame Anita offers clairvoyance, palmistry, crystal gazing and tarot card readings. A large aromatherapy stall contains oil burners, essential oils and pot-pourri at not-so-knockdown prices. One trader specializes in Chinese opium pipes, while another has a large stock of New Age books, and a third is selling his collection of pipes and cigarette lighters. Several display household artefacts from the 1920S to the 1970S of the type that can also be found at the Stables (see below). Look out for the collection of old sewing machines. If you're desperate for currency, visit the bureau de change at this market.

Camden market used to have many secondhand record stalls, but in these post-vinyl days they are dying out. One of the best is here, with LPs and singles well ordered by genre. Punk, indie and 1960s bands are especially well represented.

The Stables

Off Chalk Farm Road, opposite junction with Hartland Road, NW1, t (020) 74855511• Open daily 10am-6pm.

The Stables is without doubt the most vital of Camden's markets. Prosperity hasn't yet had time to prettify and package it, so you'll still find some of the rough and ready spirit of 1970S Camden. However, the site is due to be redeveloped in 2002. Rave music, mixed with indie tunes and reggae, is never out of earshot. Within the gates of the former goods yard, trading takes place both outdoors on cobbled thoroughfares and any available piece of wasteland, and under cover of the ramshackle Victorian sheds and a succession of railway arches.

Camden is very different from the established antiques markets such as Portobello Road or Camden Passage. Many of the traders are young and hip, which means they may let an unfashionable hunk of Victorian a through their grasp without realizing its worth. But when it comes to zoth-century fashions, which account for most of their stock, these traders are totally clued-up. Where else would a pairoftarnished 1950S cats'-eyes sunglasses cost £12.50, or old BOAC bags be sold as fashion accessories?

Though most stalls are run by Londoners with an eye for street fashion, bigger business is already making hay at the Stables, as evidenced by a huge stall of 'vintage' Levi's where secondhand denims are sold for upwards of £20 each. The Gin House sells vintage and modern clothing.

To the left of the entrance as you come in from the Camden Lock site are shops selling designer club and fetish wear. There is a fancy dress shop with a Gothic theme (vampire costumes included), and elsewhere you can buy stiletto boots sharp enough to stab the floor. Fetish clothes can be yours in a jiffy from Sperm, and in other stalls in this area you can find Gothic clothing, jewellery and clubwear.

There are still grungy bargains to be had at the Stables, if you don't mind a bit of wear and tear. Most of the best clothes stalls are outside, just to the left of the entrance, up a cobbled walkway that leads to the Stables Great Hall: well-worn leather jackets from about £10; secondhand printed T-shirts at the not-sogiveaway price of £5; and New Romantic style clothes. Steps to the left of the entrance, adorned with an alarming display of mannequins' legs sporting luminous plastic trousers, lead to a small row of shops selling 'vintage' clothing (faded 1970S T-shirts, patched denim jackets and other classic desirables).

Camden fashion doesn't stop at clothing. Many of the market's teenage customers of the 1970S and 80S now have their own flats to furnish, so there's plenty of stripped pine furniture about, some of it roughly painted in Mediterranean turquoise. Most of the renovated furniture is kept within the murky confines of the railway arches, though antique pieces can be found in the Stables Great Hall. This large Victorian structure, once a hospital for horses, also contains old kitchenware, cigarette tins, books and various household goods from the 1920S to the 1970s.

Outside the Great Hall, secondhand street fashions are interspersed with traders selling bootleg tapes of live gigs, concert videos and army-surplus gear. You might also encounter club DJs selling cassettes of thei r ra re groove, sa m ba or techno mixes: it's near impossible to avoid moving to the beat.

Outside Piazza and Antiques Passage (both converted railway arches) are stalls displaying African crafts, CDs, clothes, luggage and video cameras. You'll find Kalimantan Creations here, which sells African wooden ornaments and instruments as well as handmade chairs and toys. There's also a trader selling old guitars and a collection of 1960s records. In an old building opposite the arches is a room full of American gear: US licence plates, workwear from the 1930S to the 1950s, and reproduction posters from Jimi Hendrix concerts. Under the arches along Antiques Passage is the Millennium Art Gallery, a shop selling modern furniture from the 1950S onwards and a selection of designer shades, garden ornaments, Art Deco furniture, leopardskin furniture, boxes and cushions, and restored antique furniture. C02, which sells modern designer zoth-century furniture, features a sofa in the shape of a baseball mitt in homage to Joe Di Maggio (it costs £2,200).

Walk into Objets d'Arch, under one of the railway arches, and wonder why you ever bothered to bring back souvenirs from your travels - it's all here, including African masks, shields and spears, and multifarious crafts and glassware. Next to it, Collectors' Arch has old cutlery, silverware and crockery. Others contain stalls selling old Dinky toys, 1950S children's annuals, 'carefully used' American clothing (some of the leather jackets on offer are bargains, around £10-15), wood-carving tools, a set of working traffic lights, and 'reclaimed' stripped pine furniture.

Camden is not without its shysters: one notice reads 'Did you know that your quartz watch emits harmful electromagnetic radiation? 'ave it neutralized here, £1 only.' Another trader is trying to sell a rock, describing it as masonry dislodged from St Paul's Cathedral during the Blitz - yours for £40.

Outside, a creperie stand attracts midmorning brunchers. If the weather's bad, eat instead inside the converted tube train in the central space of the Stables.

There are more railway arches behind the Stables Great Hall; one contains Camden Green Market, fronted by an organic cafe. On the menu is 'hot organic soup', whatever that is. Inside the arch, traders sell organic cheese (including some feroclously flavoured goat's cheese), organic fruit and veg, a variety of organic breads, and organic herbs.

Stalls with 'cyber' prefixes seem particularly popular of late at the Stables. There is a Cybercafe, where you can get Internet access and which has a separate eating area. There's also Cyberdog, a shop which quite obviously imagines itself to be inhabiting some Blade Runner-type futuristic dystopia. A spacecraft sculpture is suspended at the entrance.

Further into this Victorian labyrinth of dank, dark arches, named the Catacombs, are some of Camden's most colourful traders. Clothes from the 1950S are sold by a chap with bright orange and yellow hair who demands a tip if you photograph him; another trader seems in a tra nce in his dimly lit dungeon, which is decked out in shawls and strewn with strange ornaments. In other arches you might find restored carriage clocks, old musical instruments, wooden carvings, and Indonesian or Indian woodwork and artefacts. One section, Raven Iron Art, specializes in beautiful, theatrical wrought-iron furniture: a kidney-shaped sofa covered with purple faux fur and adorned with zebra-skin cushions stands next to a glass table, its legs and sides entwined with iron ivy. Many of the goods for sale in the Catacombs are quirky and postmodern, yet all are highly polished and professionally produced. The traders in these sprawling caverns display a marked air of superiority over the rough 'n' ready types outside; high-quality business cards are brandished at every opportunity and the snazzy sound systems help to create an atmosphere akin to a subterranean shopping precinct. A nearby cafe specializes in East African curries.

All the above can be found to the left of the main entrance to the Stables. If, however, you turn right, you come across more old buildings filled with antiques stalls, where you might find anything from a 1920s accordion to a silver cutlery set. Farther along, the Long Stable advertises its wares above its entrance. The stalls inside are crammed with paraphernalia, some predictable, like Elvis key rings and Beatles magazines, and some rather more unusual: Bettie Page cufflinks,Jayne Mansfield transfers and a painted Dirk Bogarde cardboard mask. There are swathes of retro clothes, many from the 1960s and, appropriately, the Velvet Underground blares out from the huge CD record and tape stall that spans almost half of the building.

On a fine day, the benches outside the Long Stable make a good stopping point to rest and watch the crowds pass by (if you can get a seat). Fast food huts supply the nourishment, from the traditional pie and mash to ultra-exotic Burmese cuisine, and caterfor vegetarian tastes with falafels and vegetarian pizzas.

Nearby Attractions

Regent's Park, & Baker St, Regent's Park, Great Portland St, Mornington Crescent, Camden Town, St John's Wood; buses 13, 18,2], 30,82, 113,274, C2. Open daily sam-sunset. One of London's loveliest parks, with a zoo (see below), a rose garden, a boating lake, an open-air theatre and the London Central Mosque.

London Zoo, Outer Circle, Regent's Park, t (020) 77223333, w www.londonzoo.com; & Camden Town, St John's Wood; bus 274. Open May-Oct daily 1Oam-5.30pm, Nov-April1Oam-4pm; adm adults £10, children £7. London's famous menagerie has thousands of animals. These days the emphasis is on conservation and education, though the zoo still offers traditional attractions such as Feeding Time.

Food and Drink Cafes and Fast Food

Many of the varied fast-food joints in the market itself are mentioned in the text, but if you want to escape the crowds, try John's Cafe (39 Chalk Farm Road). The trendy goings-on down the road seem to have passed by this basic caff.

Pubs

If you want to tune in to upbeat Camden, order a cocktail at WKD (18 Kentish Town Road), one of the funkiest venues for a drink and a snack, or have a semi-quiet pint in the Fusilier 8c Firkin at 7-8 Chalk Farm Road.

Restaurants

There are plenty of good restaurants in Camden. Cheng Du (9 Parkway) is a quiet place serving spicy Szechuan cooking, while Cafe Delancey (3 Delancey St) is a French brasserie which also does snacks and soups. For good Greek food, try Andy's Taverna (81 Bayham St). Heading north, Mango Room (10 Kentish Town Rd), is a very cool bar-restaurant with modern London-Caribbean cooking and a great range of cocktails

CAMDEN PASSAGE

Camden Passage, off Islington High Street.

Transport: & Angel; buses 4, 19,30,38,43, 56,73, 153,274,341.

Best time to go: Wednesday.

Parking: There are parking meters on the side streets east of Camden Passage. Main wares: Antiques.

Specifics: Old cutlery, military clothing and artefacts (Sat only), crockery, glassware, jewellery.

Don't confuse this with the kerfuffle at Camden Town. Camden Passage is in the heart of Islington, where old goods are sold to the nouveaux riches; where quaintness is quantified in quids; and where collectors fork out for silver spoons.

The narrow, flagstoned walkway was once called Cumberland Row, but was renamed in 1876 after the Earl of Camden, who owned the land. Despite the venerable surroundings, the antiques market is a relatively new affair, dating from 1960. The timing was spot-on. In 1960, Islington was just starting to become fashionable again, with middleclass couples moving into the area and renovating its beautiful Georgian and early-Victorian houses. This, coupled with the increasing popularity of antiques, ensured the market's success.

Get yourself in the mood by walking through the Mall antiques arcade, which occupies a renovated tram shed to the south of the Passage. Bijou shops packed with objets d'art line a central walkway. Exquisite china, wooden sailing boats, 19th-century paintings, pristine glassware - most stuff is in impeccable condition and seriously expensive. Take heart: the market proper is not quite as exclusive.

There are 32 stalls in the Gateway antique market between Upper Street and Islington High Street, and apart from a couple of restaurants, virtually every shop on the northern stretch of Islington High Street and Camden Passage now sells antiques. Every inch of space is used.

Take the Angel Arcade (near the northernmost end of Islington High Street), which occupies only part of one terraced house yet contains 20 antiques shops. China, Victorian ornaments and old brassware are everywhere, but on Saturdays (from 8am to zpm) the most fascinating events take place in the basement, which hosts the London Military Market. Descend the staircase on that day and you'll find this market with its plethora of belts, buckles, badges, bayonets, uniforms and medals. Smell the odour of khaki encrusted with ancient sweat as you pass the old uniforms.

It's a relief to climb the stairs again and reach the open air. Turn right, continuing northwards, and you soon reach Camden Passage. In every available space, trestle tables are set up in clutches between buildings; most are covered by translucent shelters. The first batch of stalls is just off the Passage on Pierrepont Row. Silver cutlery and tableware, jewellery, glassware, china and old coins are ten-a-penny, but there are also more esoteric collections of magnifying glasses and early cameras. Further down this tiny cul-de-sac is a collection of small antiques shops, single-roomed cubby holes packed with elderly artefacts. One has a notable collection of old Rolex watches, going back to 1914.