Camden Market

As I usually do on Saturdays I went for a walk and ended up in Camden Market, only about 30 minutes from my flat.




















This street is a short walk from the beginnings of Camden Town in North London. It's long been a popular place for artists and musicians.



The areas bordering Camden are both wealthy and, er, far from wealthy.




The area is, as Wikipedia puts it, "well-known for its markets, liberal attitude and associations with popular culture."



Camden Market is a collection of several markets. This is the Camden Lock Market, established in 1974. It sells food, clothes, jewelery, games, toys, and a lot more. There isn't very much mass-produced stuff. Many stall owners make whatever they sell.




The canal runs right to the market.



The canal goes from the market to Regent's Park and walking along it is a great way to spend an hour or so.





The food on hand is awesome. Huge bubbling plates of curries, thin-crust pizza made by Italians, Caribbean stew, Polish perogies, sushi, and more.




Camden Stables Market is attached to Camden Lock Market. Stables is a mix of indoor and outdoor stalls, with a heavy dose of Goth-subculture present throughout.




Part of the market used to be a Horse Hospital that cared for horses injured pulling canal barges.








The market's back alleys are packed with all sorts of shops.






















Now it's just a pretty good place to walk around and buy an antique piano, or ironic t-shirt.










In all Camden's market areas, the idea seems to be to keep control in the hands of the community artists/traders and away from big businesses.