Markets

Markets everywhere are being threatened with closure. There is a small market of mixed goods in Kentish Town. There was one antiques shop. that has now closed and even the general goods are much reduced. Perhaps people are buying more on line? But the local conviviality, meeting neighbours and going to the coffee shop have gone. When you think how bustling and alive small London streets used to be. Up to the 1940s and 50s coal was delivered to your shute, the rag and bone man collected bits of metal to sell on as scrap, the knife sharpener, the milk man and so on. Neighbours would chat while they collected produce left on the doorstep and left out the rubbish. We went to the local junk shop to buy furniture when we left home. It’s Ikea or Habitat now. It is quiet except for traffic in the larger roads but the little roads of terraced houses keep themselves to themselves. The markets are not visited, so street theatre/life takes another hit.