Camden Davidet

Camden Market sits beside the Regent’s Canal in north London, where warehouses once served the canal trade. Six separate markets now occupy the old stables and yards, with Camden Lock Market by the water and Stables Market in the arches of a railway viaduct. Inverness Street’s century-old food market has given way to stalls selling crafts and fast food, and the whole site draws around 250,000 visitors each week. Teddy Sagi’s company bought most of the markets in 2014 and turned temporary stalls into permanent buildings. A 1991 indoor hall designed by John Dickinson brought brick and cast-iron style to the crafts section. In 2017 a midnight fire drew 70 firefighters and ten engines, but the market reopened quickly. The markets began as Sunday crafts fairs near Camden Lock in 1974, expanding when plans for an urban motorway were abandoned. Stables Market still uses the Grade II-listed horse hospital and Pickfords stables, with shops set in railway arches. It specialises in furniture, 20th-century antiques and alternative fashion such as goth and cyberdog clothing. In 2004 Chris Evans sold personal items from a stall here before Christmas. A 2007 redevelopment added four-storey buildings, a glass roof and new pedestrian routes through 25 arches. A fire in 2014 brought ten engines and 70 firefighters, yet no injuries were reported. Hawley Wharf replaced the Canal Market after a 2008 blaze destroyed the covered entrance tunnel. A four-storey building now houses sixty fast-food units, 150 shops and co-working offices, with 200 homes above. Buck Street Market once focused on clothes outdoors, and the whole area keeps the cosmopolitan feel first noted in the 20th century. Visitors walk beside the canal, pass under railway bridges and explore stalls in brick arches and modern halls. The weekend crowds peak when most traders operate, though some shops stay open all week.