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| Old Spitalfields Market, London’s East End |
If shopping is on your to-do list when visiting London, you can either spend your pounds the conventional way by visiting the shops in Soho, hitting the nifty shopping centers like Covent Garden, or by hitting the megalith stores like Harrod’s. You could, in fact, spend a couple of days wandering around and dining in Harrod’s, just be sure to pick up a map so you don’t get lost.
For another shopping experience, you can visit any one of London’s dozens of markets. Some pop-up on certain weekdays, others are open every day; some are craft and artisan type markets, others are flea markets and rummage sales. For a great compendium of London’s markets, click here.
This empty nest travel blog couple visited two of London’s east end markets on the rainy Sunday afternoon we were in Britain’s capital city. Those two markets, even only separated by a few blocks, could not have been more different. Both are an easy walk from the Aldgate tube stop on the Circle Line: simply head north on Commercial Street. You’ll pass the Petticoat Lane Market (Sundays) on your way to the Old Spitalfields Market (daily, but the most booths are on Sundays).
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| Colorful Alpaca Wool at Spitalfields |
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| Sweets at Spitalfields |
The Old Spitalfields Market
http://www.oldspitalfieldsmarket.com/
The venerable Old Spitalfields Market is an attraction in itself (#35 out of 406 shopping venues in all of London on TripAdvisor). Really more of a “market of markets”, Old Spitalfields resides in an open-air but covered building, making it a great poor-weather option. Different market themes are on different days: fashion on Friday, “something different” on Saturdays, etc. Sunday is the day with the most variety, most open stalls, and (naturally) the largest crowds.
Spitalfields is in sort of an H-shape, with permanent stores and cafés around the perimeter and stalls nestled in between. The blustery fall afternoon we visited, sweaters were popular, but with Christmas shopping cranking up, so were unique gifts. We can’t divulge all that we bought, lest our children discover some of their Christmas presents, but suffice it to say they are on the “unique” side. There’s no shortage of eating options amongst the stalls as well, including sweets stalls (doughnuts and similar fat pills), sandwich shops, and specialty stalls for everything from olives to English cheeses. We treated ourselves to some hot mulled wine.
The clothing stalls, for the most part, are current, new (unused) fashions. There was only a couple of vintage booths, mostly selling hats (of which Chuck has acquired plenty, thanks very much, however Lori picked up a nice little knit cap) and London Fog style jackets. There were some interesting craft jewelry stands too, including one guy who made interesting jewelry from old circuit boards.
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| Malby Maps, Vintage Maps at Spitalfields |
But the most interesting booth we found at Spitalfields was that of Andrew Malby Mottram’s Malby Maps, purveyors of vintage maps. Chuck–a certifiable cartophile, fully willing and capable of spending hours poring over maps and playing with Google Earth–could easily have spent thousands of dollars here on turn-of-the-century Ordnance Survey maps and the like. One map was particularly interesting: a large format fold-out map of the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. What was so unique about this 1908 map was that it showed steamer routes from city to city, complete with their scheduled weekdays and times of departure and arrival. It would be the perfect wall art for this nomadic couple, except that being nomadic, we’d have little opportunity to admire it. But we did get Andrew’s website: http://www.malbymaps.com/
The Petticoat Lane Market
http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgsl/601-650/616_markets_information_for_vi.aspx
For a grittier, bargain-basement sort of market experience, head back to the Petticoat Lane Market. This Sunday market is nestled on a few of the streets of the Tower Hamlets area just south of the Old Spitalfields Market, but it couldn’t be more different than the Spitalfields market. Most notably, it’s a pop-up street market without the benefit of protection from rain.
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| The Grittier Petticoat Lane Market |
Petticoat Lane, unfairly I think, doesn’t rank in TripAdvisor’s rankings of shopping venues like Spitalfields does. It does, however, rank (only) 982 out of London’s 1148 attractions. It’s not that Petticoat Lane is a bad experience: you have to, after all, know what to expect. If you’re looking for great deals on old or surplus clothing, everything from jeans and shirts to fur coats and evening gowns, Petticoat Lane is where you might find it on a lucky day.
Among the clothing and shoe booths you’ll find plenty of rummage-style vendors offering batteries, antiperspirant, cell phone covers, shampoo, toothpaste, and CD’s and movies (cheap, but of questionable license legality). If you’ve traveled and seen those guys who show up on bridges, fold open a blanket on the ground, and start selling fake designer purses and sunglasses, then just imagine all those guys getting together in street market booths and you’ve got the feel for Petticoat Lane.
We’ll boil it down this way: if you’re looking for a unique gift idea, go to Spitalfields; if you’re looking for a cheap pair of socks, go to Petticoat Lane.
