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A Springtime Stroll in Columbia Road Flower Market, London

It’s early on a chilly morning, mid-February. Delicate pink magnolia blossoms already frame the Underground sign outside of Parsons Green station. The platform is empty. I’m heading east to the most colourful place in London on a Sunday: Columbia Road Flower Market.

Parsons Green London Underground by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

I walk a ways at the other end, through the streets of the City, a ghost town on a weekend, the Gherkin poking its nose up in the distance, shops closed, few passersby with their heads down against the wind. I head up through Shoreditch where the sign at the top of The Tea Building – a creative working space once a bacon factory – reminds me I haven’t yet had my caffeine fix. The streets turn grubbier but much more interesting at this point, street art-covered walls almost more common now than those that aren’t. A thought goes through my head that I should start photographing the empty walls of Shoreditch as a new project. They may soon be a rarity.

London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Shoreditch, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Shoreditch, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Shoreditch, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Cutting up through the back streets, the sight of a girl carrying a brown paper cone full of lavender stems and dusty blue eucalyptus tells me I’m close. And soon enough, everyone I pass is armed with flowers. It’s been a while since my last visit, but the same homeless man in the same sleeping bag is still in the same spot at the beginning of Columbia Road, still smoking a cigarette, still asking if anyone who passes can spare a cigarette.

Shoreditch, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Shoreditch, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Shoreditch, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

The street was once upon a time a simple pathway toward the slaughterhouses at Smithfield for some unsuspecting sheep. Fast forward through history and it’s been transformed into a botanical wonderland. Stalls have passed hands through generations, some that are still going having started as far back as the 1940s.

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Week after week, even in winter, colour brightens up the grey skies with buckets of tulips on display, great piles of everlasting protea, green ivy leaves tumbling down from carts, hand-drawn signs announcing “Three bunches a fiver!” reiterated by the Cockney accents pitching their sales.

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

I walk past a vintage shop, a perfumery, a gallery. Outside of Nom, which sells mainly handcrafted home accessories, I pause to sift through their selection of coco wood utensils that always on display outside.

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

As I cross a small side street, I’m swept into the flow. A vendor says, “£1 a picture,” and then then winks at me and chuckles because just about everyone has a camera or a phone pointed at a lovely display. He’s selling full trays of pansies and old English primroses.

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

The street is already jam-packed and it’s still early. People are carrying small dogs, bundles of blooms, lemon trees, cameras and small children. They’re speaking Spanish, French, Japanese, Russian. It’s also one of the only places I don’t mind a crowd because it’s only a short stretch and there’s so many sounds and sights and smells to take in that you barely notice your lack of personal space.

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

As I pass a stand full of herbs, I catch a whiff of rosemary mingling with freshly roasted coffee from a nearby cafe. There are a few coffee points where you can just walk up to a window and come away with a cup instead of having to go inside and queue. You can also pop up to the bunting framed window of The Columbia Road Juice Company for a glass of freshly squeezed, a scoop of soup or a warming herbal tea.

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

The little independent shops lining the street are worth a visit just as much as the market itself. There’s the old-fashioned sweet shop Suck and Chew for a sherbet fountain sugar fix, Ryantown filled with artist Rob Ryan’s intricate cutout prints, a number of stores appropriately dedicated to pottery and other gardening necessities, Lee’s Seafoods which has been in business since World War II and Cafe Columbia which comes to life every Sunday selling delicious smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels.

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

There’s Milagros which is full of skulls and Mexican folk art, Wawa showroom full of cool furniture, Stoned and Plastered which just has a fantastic name, Laxeiro, a family-run restaurant perfect for Spanish lunch, the quirky Jesse Chorley and Buddug with handmade necklaces and Marcos & Trump where you may occasionally see a sewing fox in the second floor window.

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

The buildings themselves are also interesting, many of them a nod to history or long lost stories of the street as it was transformed over time – 19th century shopfronts, grade II-listed terraced houses, fox knockers on brightly painted doors – vivid layers of it peeling off of some of them. I read that there used to be an Odeon cinema nearby where you could go to see a film for 6 pennies on a Saturday morning.

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

Columbia Road Flower Market, London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

From there, it’s always a walk down to Brick Lane, via a loop through the street art-filled flea market that fills up Sclater Street on a weekend. I stopped for a salt beef bagel at the famous Beigel Bake after queuing for a while (but they’re always worth the wait).

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

And then I put my camera away and rummaged through market stalls, ate a giant double chocolate home made brownie, took a slow wander through the Sunday Upmarket and the Spitalfields markets.

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

It amazes me, always, how different one area of this city is to the next, how certain parts always seem to stay the same and others seem to be constantly undergoing some sort of transformation.

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

East London by Stephanie Sadler, Little Observationist

It’s funny that I feel more at home in the west and have lived in the west for the nine years I’ve been here, but Columbia Road and the surrounding area has always been, without doubt, one of my most favourite places in London.

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6 Comments

  • Reply
    Jonene
    March 2, 2016 at 3:55 pm

    It’s been nearly two years since I was last in London. I appreciate the images you capture through your lens and your words to make that time a little less empty; they pacify me until I can return. They show me how places I visited have changed in my absence; they give me new pins on my map of places I hope to visit next. Thank you.

    • Reply
      littleobservationist
      March 2, 2016 at 4:18 pm

      Thanks for your kind words, Jonene! I’m happy that you enjoyed the post and hope that you have the opportunity to visit again soon.

  • Reply
    Adrienne
    March 3, 2016 at 5:54 pm

    Thanks for whisking me away to London, Steph. As always, your photos are stunning, and you capture the little idiosyncrasies that make a place. I’ll be back again in June! Can’t wait.

    • Reply
      littleobservationist
      March 4, 2016 at 10:22 am

      Oh that’s exciting you’ll be back again this summer! Have you been to the flower market before?

  • Reply
    Diana Mieczan
    March 8, 2016 at 12:24 pm

    Oh boy, those hyacinths are making me swoon! Stunning sweetie, on so many levels. Hope you’re having a jolly good week so far. xo

  • Reply
    Exploring London: Bethnal Green & Columbia Road Flower Market - Little Observationist
    June 29, 2016 at 8:35 am

    […] written about the flower market on other occasions, so I mainly just wanted to share some photos with you – of which, of course, there […]

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