Shops and markets - The Rough Guide to London - page 430

Duke of Uke 88 Cheshire St, E2 T 020 3583 9728,
W dukeofuke.co.uk; ! Whitechapel or Liverpool
Street or Shoreditch High Street Overground; map
pp.192-193. Lively, welcoming and much-loved little
uke-nuts' hub, stuffed to the rafters with ukuleles, banjos
and harmonicas, some of them vintage. Check the website
for details of live jams, singalongs and beginners' classes.
Tues-Fri noon-7pm, Sat & Sun 11am-6pm.
Hamleys 188-196 Regent St, W1 T 0871 704 1977,
W hamleys.com; ! Oxford Circus; map p.78. You may
well hear this grand old toy store - a London landmark,
standing on this spot for 250 years - before you see it. Just
listen for the clamour of shrieking kids on the rampage -
Hamleys has no less than seven floors of fun, from wooden
rocking horses to Wii games, to entice them. Mon-Wed
10am-8pm, Thurs & Fri 10am-9pm, Sat 9.30am-8pm,
Sun noon-6pm.
Ì International Magic 89 Clerkenwell Rd, EC1
T 020 7405 7324, W internationalmagic.com; !
Chancery Lane or Farringdon; map p.150. Eccentric,
family-owned little magic store selling more tricks and
accessories, along with instruction manuals and DVDs,
than it is possible to imagine (unless you're a mindreader).
Mon-Fri 11.30am-6pm, Sat 11.30am-4pm.
Limelight Movie Art 313 King's Rd, SW3 T 020 7751
5584, W limelightmovieart.com; ! South Kensington;
map p.265. Though the generally high prices mean it's
geared mainly towards serious collectors, you can still pick
up original movie posters and lobby cards - from Bowie to

Buster Keaton - at this glamorous and glossy Chelsea shop.
Mon-Sat 11.30am-6pm.
Little Shop of Horrors 11 Mare St, E8 T 020 7998
3617, W viktorwyndofhackney.co.uk; ! Bethnal
Green or Old Street; map p.190. Wonderfully macabre
little Hackney gallery/store: a time-warped Cabinet of
Wonders with a freakshow vibe. From two-headed teddy
bears to African masks, animal skulls to Arabian swords,
you'll find plenty to enchant you in this spooky spot. It's the
base of the Last Tuesday Society, which hosts regular
events on generally Gothic themes. Sat noon-7pm or by
appointment.
Lomography Gallery Store 3 Newburgh St, W1 T 020
7434 1466; ! Oxford Circus, map p.97; 117 Commercial
St T 020 7426 0999, map pp.192-193; W lomography
.com. For anyone who thinks photography lost its soul
when it went digital, this super-stylish store sells all the
cult analogue cameras including the Lomo LC-A, the Diana
and the Lomo Lubitel, with lots of cheapies too. Newburgh
St: Mon-Sat 11am-7pm, Sun noon-5pm; Commercial
St: daily 11am-7pm.
Pollock's Toyshop Central Ave, South Piazza, Covent
Garden, WC1 T 020 7379 7866, W pollocks
-coventgarden.co.uk; ! Covent Garden; map p.132. If
Hamleys feels a bit commercial, head for this tiny cupboard
of a place on Covent Garden piazza, where the toys -
Victorian curiosities, toy theatres, wooden games, vintage
puzzles - appeal to adults as much as kids. Great cards, too.
Mon-Sat 10.30am-6pm, Sun 11am-4pm.

30

MARKETS
London's markets are more than just a cheap alternative to high-street shopping: you haven't really got to grips with
London unless you've rummaged through the junk at Brick Lane on a Sunday morning, or haggled over a leather jacket at
Camden. Do keep an eye out for pickpockets , however.

Alfie's Antique Market 13-25 Church St, NW8 T 020
7723 6066, W alfiesantiques.com; ! Marylebone;
map p.89. Vast indoor market in the Parisian flea market
style, offering fantastic vintage and antiques from Art Deco
earrings to priceless modernist ceramics. Great café, too.
Tues-Sat 10am-6pm.
Bermondsey (New Caledonian) Bermondsey Square,
SE1; ! London Bridge; map pp.224-225. Antiques
from obscure nautical instruments to pricey furniture. The
serious collectors arrive at dawn. Fri 4am-1pm.
Berwick Street Berwick and Rupert streets, W1; !
Piccadilly Circus; map p.100. This famous fruit and veg
market is a piece of living Soho history, with ferociously fast
vendors working the crowds like showmen, though the
street food and the cool indie stalls are the big pull
nowadays. Mon-Sat 9am-6pm.
Borough 8 Southwark St, SE1 T 020 7407 1002,
W boroughmarket.org.uk; ! London Bridge; map
pp.226-227. Fine-food heaven - suppliers from all over

the UK converge to sell organic and artisan goodies from
around the world, and there are regular cooking demos. The
Victorian structure, with its slender wrought-iron columns,
is lovely. Prices are high, and Sat can be a crush; go early.
Thurs 11am-5pm, Fri noon-6pm, Sat 8am-5pm.
Brick Lane Brick Lane, Cygnet and Sclater streets, E1; !
Aldgate East or Liverpool Street or Shoreditch High
Street Overground; map pp.192-193. Huge, sprawling,
cheap and frenzied, the famous East End market has become
a fixture on the hipster circuit. Fruit and veg, household tat,
clothes, antique furniture, scratched records, new young
designers and broken spectacles - it's hard to say what you
can't find here, most of it going for a song; great food stalls,
too. The coolest gear is sold in and around the Old Truman
Brewery, at the Backyard Market ( W backyardmarket.co.uk),
the Tea Rooms ( W bricklane-tearooms.co.uk) and the Sunday
Upmarket ( W sundayupmarket.co.uk). Brick Lane: Sun
9am-5pm; Backyard/Tea Rooms: Sat 11am-6pm, Sun
10am-5pm; Upmarket: Sun 10am-5pm.