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A London Christmas 2008: Food & Flower Markets
 
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"To market, to market, to buy a fat pig,
Home again, home again, dancing a jig; To market, to market, to buy a fat hog; Home again, home again, jiggety-jog..."  Our guide to the best London markets for festive food and flowers will certainly have you jiggety-jogging all the way home. Faced with all that fresh produce you’ll be pleased you avoided the neon lights of the faceless supermarkets where you wouldn’t know if your sprouts have come from Timbuktu or Taunton. Highlights include a trip to Borough (the "larder of London"), and Columbia Road for fresh flowers, Christmas sprigs and the must-have mistletoe. Get ready to pucker up. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A London Christmas 2008: Related Articles Sugar and Spice | Hotel Hideaways | Food and Flower Markets | Traditional Toys | Ice Skating | Festive Fairs | Shows and Pantos | Christmas Lights | Tinsel and Trimmings | Christmas Day and Boxing Day | Carols and Services | Butchers and Fishmongers | Greengrocers and Delicatessens   Billingsgate Market
Trafalgar Way, E14 5ST Tuesdays to Saturdays 5am-8.30am Dating from the sixteenth century, Billingsgate is now the only London-based market dedicated to fish - and every Michelin-starred restaurant in the Capital sends its buyers here for the freshest seafood money can buy. The current market overlooking Canary Wharf is open Tuesday to Saturday from 5am to 8.30am with one trader based here on Sundays - John Stockwell Ltd specialising in shellfish (from 6am to 8am). It's mainly wholesale, but it is open to the general public and the sight of the working market is worth seeing. In addition to a wide selection of fish and fish products, there are a few traders dealing in poultry, cooking oils, potatoes, trade sundries and specialist restaurant and catering supplies. If you are here to buy there is a half a stone (3 kilo) limit when it comes to buying fish (this may vary with individual traders offering mixed boxes). Children under 12 not allowed. Address: Trafalgar Way, E14 5ST Phone: 020 7987 1118 Timing: Tue to Sat 5am-8.30am. Closed on Tuesdays following a Bank Holiday Monday. Nearest Station: Canary Wharf Tube Billingsgate Market - Information  Borough Market
Southwark Street, SE1 1TJ Thu, Fri and Sat and daily from 20th Dec to 24th Dec (Christmas Eve) 2008 Nestled in-between Borough High Street, Bedale Street, Stoney Street and Winchester Walk lives "London's Larder", more formally known as Borough Market . This gourmand's delight is London's oldest food market and boasts a mouth-watering range of fresh food stalls under its Dickensian wrought-iron roof. You can get everything you need for a very special gourmet Christmas dinner here. Turkey and all the trimmings, organic vegetables, fruity Christmas puddings, the full works. It's also a fantastic place for Christmas shopping, full of the very finest British foodie treats. Just because it's a market doesn't mean it's cheap, however, and savvy shoppers take care to browse around for the best deals. EXTENDED CHRISTMAS OPENING HOURS 2008 Thurs, 18th December: Open 11am to 5pm Friday, 19th December: Open midday to 6pm Saturday, 20th December: Open 9am to 4pm Sunday, 21st December: Open 11am to 5pm Monday, 22nd December: Open 11am to 5pm Tuesday, 23rd December: Open 11am to 7pm Wednesday, 24th December: Open 9am to 2pm Thursday, 25th December: Closed Friday, 26th December: Closed Saturday, 27th December: Open 9am to 4pm Sunday, 28th December: Closed Monday, 29th December: Closed Tuesday, 30th December: Open 11am to 5pm Wednesday, 31st December: Open 9am to 2pm Thursday, 1st January: Closed Friday, 2nd January: Closed Saturday, 3rd January: Open 9am to 4pm Address: Southwark Street, SE1 1TJ Timing: Thu 11am-5pm, Fri midday-6pm, Sat 9am-4pm and daily from 20th Dec to 24th Dec Nearest Station: London Bridge Tube / Rail Borough Market - Information  Broadway Market
East London, E8 4PH Saturdays 9am-5pm Broadway is a great little market with a tremendous variety of goods at prices well below those at the more famous markets in town. There's a good selection of organic food including rare breed pork, veal and venison, sea food and fresh fish, handmade cheese butter and butter milk, fair-trade coffee, and organic breads, cakes and pastries. You'll end up grazing as you go when you come to stock up on all the ingredients you need for a Christmas feast. And, while you're there, you can do some present-scouting too; stalls selling everything from food to clothes are here. Hidden gems include the Marissa V clothing stall and Kate Garwood Ceramics. Broadway has a rich tradition of providing produce for the city; in years gone by, livestock would travel through what is now Broadway Market from London Fields - the last common grazing area - before their final stop at Slaughter Street in Brick Lane or East Smithfield. Address: East London, E8 4PH Timing: Saturdays 9am-5pm Nearest Station: Bethnal Green Tube Broadway Market - Information  Columbia Road Market
Columbia Road, Hackney, E2 7RG Sundays 8am-2pm Lined with chic boutiques, every Sunday this historic street fills with a bright patchwork of hundreds of flower stalls. Columbia Road is the capital's most colourful and sweet-smelling market. At this time of year the market is crammed with Christmas trees (from 2nd December) in every shape and size, as well as holly, ivy and the all-important mistletoe. Cut flowers, shrubs, bedding plants and other horticultural delights are also for sale as well as topiary trees, pot plants, hanging baskets, bulbs and bouquets. While the 52 stalls only sell flowers and plants, the neighbouring shops and yards sell everything to cater for the green-fingered, from pots to potting soil. With most of the traders being based in Essex, many of the plants and flowers are grown and produced locally, reducing the impact on the environment. There are plenty of attractive cafes, pubs and stalls where you can make a pit-stop; Treacle is a personal favourite for a reviving cuppa. If travelling to the market by Tube, Old Street is the nearest station. Turn left on exit, walk along Old Street into Hackney Road and after 200 metres turn right into Columbia Road. Just be careful where you put that mistletoe on your way home. Address: Columbia Road, Hackney, E2 7RG Phone: 020 7377 8963 Timing: Sun 8am - 2pm Nearest Station: Old Street Tube Columbia Road Market - Information  Leadenhall Market
Whittington Avenue, off Gracechurch Street, EC3V 0DR Mondays to Fridays 7am-4pm Leadenhall Market is a restored Victorian covered market that sells traditional game, poultry, fish and meat. Although there has been a market place here since the first century AD, the current wrought iron and glass building was designed in 1881 by Sir Horace Jones (architect of Billingsgate and Smithfield markets). Close to the Lloyd's of London building and the Bank of England, it's a popular place for city workers on lunch break so the best time to visit is early as it gets very busy by 1pm. Leadenhall is not only a scenic market place which makes for a lovely stroll around, it also sells some of the finest food in London. HS Linwood & Son, for example, has been serving the catch of the day since the 1980s and on Fridays a cluster of additional food stalls take over the centre of the covered market. Address: Whittington Avenue, off Gracechurch Street, EC3V 0DR Timing: Mon to Fri 7am-4pm Nearest Station: Monument Tube Leadenhall Market - Information  Marylebone Farmers' Market
Cramer Street Car Park, off Marylebone High Street, W1U 3BN Sundays 10am-2pm. EXTRA DATE TUESDAY 23RD DECEMBER Marylebone village is one of those areas of central London that really does have a village feel. And this weekly Marylebone Farmers' Market, opened on 22nd June 2003, helps to compound that feeling as you stroll around its stalls displaying freshly picked produce. Currently the largest farmers' market under the London Farmers' Markets umbrella, there are 30 stalls to peruse. Look out for free-range turkeys, chicken and geese, direct from the farms that rear them, as well as Christmas trees, wreaths and fragrant cones. Once you've had your fill at the market you can slip down a side street and visit Marylebone's shops, cafes and restaurants; on Moxon Street La Fromagerie and the Ginger Pig (who also have an excellent charcuterie in Borough Market) are not to be missed. Or go via the pretty, pedestrianised St Christopher's Place and you can be on Oxford Street in five minutes with Selfridges nearby. Address: Cramer Street Car Park, off Marylebone High Street, W1U 3BN Phone: 020 7704 9659 Timing: Sundays 10am-2pm Nearest Station: Marble Arch Tube Marylebone Farmers Market - Information  Pimlico Road Farmers' Market
Orange Square, corner of Pimlico Road and Ebury Street, SW1W 8LP Saturdays 9am-1pm. EXTRA DATE Tuesday 23rd December On an average Saturday you'll find a small gathering of around 25 stalls in this pedestrianised space outside La Poule au Pot. There's an intimate, friendly atmosphere at Pimlico Road Farmers' Market , which is helped by the farmers and stall owners (largely from nearby Kent, Surrey and Sussex) offering free samples and snippets of advice. For Christmas, you can stock up on organic meats and goodies like celeriac, parsnips and carrots, all fresh from the growers. Freshly baked mince pies come from The Pudding Emporium, while London's own Flour Power Bakery presents traditional stollen bread from their outlet in Surrey Quays. Christmas hampers are a great way to stock up the larder over the festive feasting period and the ones you'll find here, by Popina, come crammed with organic delicacies like chocolate chestnut tarts and pear, stilton and walnut tarts. This part of Pimlico is especially picturesque, with the market in place on a crisp Saturday morning - and with Daylesford Organic across the road - you really are spoilt for choice when it comes to some of the best free-range and preservative-free food. Address: Orange Square, corner of Pimlico Road and Ebury Street, SW1W 8LP Phone: 020 7704 9659 Timing: Saturdays 9am-1pm Nearest Station: Sloane Square Tube Pimlico Road Farmer's Market - Information  Slow Food UK Market
Southbank Centre Square, outside the Royal Festival Hall, SE1 8XX Thursday 20th - Sunday 23rd December 2007 Where your food comes from is fast becoming a factor when it comes to choosing what you eat. So the return of the Southbank's slow food market is a welcome addition to the capital's Christmas shopping options. Slow Food UK, the organisers behind the market on Southbank Centre Square, outside the Royal Festival Hall, are all about locally-produced food, grown in a sustainable way without compromising on taste. So you can buy your meat, sprouts and spuds knowing that they've been produced with minimal harm to the environment. With more than 20 stalls offering fresh and preserved foods, as well as sustainably-produced craft products you'll have plenty to put on the plate come Christmas. And, because the market runs almost up to Christmas Day, you can rest assured that you're getting produce at its freshest. Venue: Southbank Centre Square, outside the Royal Festival Hall Address: Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX Phone: 0871 663 2501 Date: Thursday 20th - Sunday 23rd December 2008 Time: 11am-8pm Pricing: Free Nearest Station: Southwark Tube Slow Food UK Market - Information  Smithfield Market
West Smithfield, EC1A 9PQ Mondays to Fridays 4am-midday For tenants of Smithfield Market getting up in the dark is nothing out of the ordinary; with the market opening at 4am these hard-working folk start when London's clubbers are just going home. As one of the oldest and most attractive markets in London, Smithfield is a must-see. Steeped in history, there's been a lively trade in livestock on this ground since the 10th century when horses, swine and oxen were sold in the 'smooth field' on Fridays. Today, meat, poultry, cheese, pies, and other delicatessen goods are available for wholesale here so the crowd it attracts largely consists of butchers, restaurateurs and caterers. The central avenues allow customers to walk through the market but to get a closer look clean, protective gear must be worn. The original market buildings designed by City Architect Sir Horace Jones in 1866 still remain but, following a £70 million spend, the magnificent Grade II listed Victorian building has been brought up to today's temperature-controlled standards. A visit to the market is all about soaking up the atmosphere - and dropping into gastro pub Smiths opposite for a pint with the papers. Address: West Smithfield, EC1A 9PQ Phone: 020 7236 8734 Timing: Trading hours: Mondays to Fridays 4am-midday Pricing: Free Nearest Station: Farringdon Rail / Tube Smithfield Market - Information  Stoke Newington Farmers' Market
William Patten Primary School, Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0NX Saturdays 10am-2.30pm All the produce at Stoke Newington Farmers' Market is organic, biodynamic or wild - and it was the first farmers' market in the UK to insist on these rules. It's a truly local market as all produce is sold by the people who grew, reared or produced it themselves and who come from within 100 miles of Hackney. The market was set up in May 2003 by Growing Communities, a social enterprise run by local people in Hackney, to enable residents in the borough to buy locally-produced food, managed in a way that benefits the environment. Participating farms include Stocks Farm in Essex, Ripple Farm and Perrycourt Farm, both in Kent. Such farms bring their in-season, organic produce into town every Saturday including greenhouse salad leaves, aubergines and peppers, organically farmed trout, lamb and chicken. The great benefit of buying direct from the people who produced your food is that you not only get the freshest of foodstuffs but you also leave with a satisfied smile, knowing that you've made a small but significant victory over the supermarket giants. Address: William Patten Primary School, Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0NX Phone: 020 7502 7588 Timing: Saturdays 10am-3.30pm Nearest Station: Manor House Tube Stoke Newington Farmers Market - Information
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