To market


Lewisham College Car Park
Lewisham Way, SE4 1UT
Saturdays 10am-2pm www.brockleymarket.com

Brockely

Brockley Market is the best kind of surprise. Since the extension of East London line, Brockley is easier to get to, new people have moved in, and their needs are beginning to change the area… cue market.
 

Brockley market stall
Photo: Toby Allen

Toby Allen, the market’s organiser, is one such resident and a local photographer. He says he wanted people to be able to do most of their weekly shop at the market – and maybe also have a coffee and bite to eat. Despite the strong sense of community in the area there are few decent shops; no butcher or fishmonger – he was a shopper frustrated with the lack of fresh produce. The market now brings the community together one morning a week. One customer said: “it’s just like a French town market experience”.

“People come, sit down and chat to each other,” says Toby. “There are lots of families, but people of all ages and cultures visit. Someone even came down from Birmingham last week! We had to give them a burger on the house!” But most of the folks that visit come from much closer. “There are 32,000 people living only a mile from the market, so it made sense to start providing seasonal and quality produce for them to buy,” he says.

Visitors can buy fruit and vegetables from Perry Court Farm, organic meats from Marsh Farm and Jacobs Ladder, and the freshest fish going from The Handpicked Shellfish Co, grab a tasty burrito (Luardos), purchase some pretty flowers (Brockley Blooms), plants and herbs (Box Chillies) and finish it all off with a flavoursome wedge of cheese (Norbiton cheese) or a shot of dark coffee (beans roasted by Lawrence at Dark Fluid). There are also some little wooden areas to sit, and Toby plans to have more built to accommodate the growing number of regular market-goers. It is hard to believe this market has only been open for just over four months. It’s already a weekly event on the calendars of every foodie in the area.


❋ Featured stallholder

Mike and Ollie
Mike and Ollie are two young chefs in skinny jeans with a zest for life and some remarkable hunter gatherer skills. The guys search high and low (literally) for ingredients; foraging in Crystal Palace for quince (who knew?), god-knows-where for cobnuts, chestnuts from Greenwich Park and, when they chance upon it, they will cook road kill. No, really. In the name of waste not, want not, naturally. They cycle everywhere transporting their wares. The stall is small, they work hard, and there is always a veggie option on the menu.
http://mikeandollie.co.uk

By Linda Cooke