Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Camden Stables And Camden Locks Fire Tragedy
















I am grieving for the loss of a fun antiques area in London last week by fire.

The area called Camden Stables Market in northern London
had a disastrous fire the evening of 9th Feb in a favorite area for us to go on our annual English buying trips. The area of Camden Town has several venues including the Stables Market including the old Horse Hospital, Camden Lock and Camden High Street with Camden Passage. The fire involved the Stables Market and part of the Lock market.

The photo at left is the Camden Town Crier outside the market on a Saturday which is a peak time. The man facing the camera in the rear is my DH. The crier was pressed into service this last Saturday as traders set up makeshift stalls and shared whatever areas were undamaged. A neat photo from 2 days after is a local pub with the menu boasrd outside reading "We're not burning...come inside for cold berr...Free drinks for firefighters".

The are has seen it's bit of controversy lately with the redevelopment plans scheduled to close the market anyway and redo it. Many fear it would mean an end to the centuries old small traders...that they would be displaced in the construction with upmarket chain stores which we hope won't happen.

We have formed relationships with several traders in the Horse Hospital adjacent to the Stables Market and it would be a shame to see them routed out by a fancier chain store.
Here are a few fire photos I found from the BBC website. One is of the locks next to the Stables where you can catch a canal boat back through Regent Canal to Regent Park which we loved doing in the good weather at the close of our shopping the markets for a leisurely way back to central London...especially as some of the tube stops don't run on Sat. afternoon.

Best wishes to all the traders at the markets and hope you are back up and functioning soon!
Cheers



No comments:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

background