ROBERTS LONDON
(MUSIC)
ladies and gentlemen boys and girls welcome to London I just got the tube to
Bethnal Green in East London why will become clear in a moment it's February
and that's what I'm going to share with you a little of life here in town this
month there are some major events for us to check out Chinese New Year falls in
February this year so I'll be heading over to Chinatown to check that out a little
later in the month first up it's Valentine's Day so London will be a
popular destination for anyone looking to impress the one they love a stay in one of
London's many fancy hotels will be a popular choice for those who can afford
it and London's many restaurants bars and pubs will be pretty busy on Valentine's
Day itself now obviously classic gifts popular gifts
a card chocolate and flowers we've got some amazing chocolate shops in town
but I thought I'd share with you a very popular place to buy flowers here in town
not just for Valentine's Day but all year round Columbia Road flower market which is a
bit of a hidden gem so let's check out the market February is still winter here
in London spring won't truly have sprung until late March it's just a few degrees
above freezing right now and the wind makes it feel colder than the thermometers
say so everybody's wrapped up warm to visit the market today although many of
the shops that line in Columbia Road are open during the week the flower markets
only open on Sundays from about 8:00 a.m. and it starts to wind down about 3
o'clock in the afternoon OK the market starts just there but this street here just next
to the pub here is a great place to stop first for some coffee and breakfast
if you're early lunch if you're late
(music)
Columbia Road Market has a long history by the 1800s this part of London became
one of London's worst slums in the 1860's Baroness Burdett Coutts the richest
woman in England at the time and philanthropist built an indoor food
market here with a capacity it said of 400 market stalls built to rival nearby
markets Spitalfields Covent Garden and Billingsgate and in an era when
being philanthropic was a genuine intention it was probably built in the
hopes of gentrifying the area which is rarely seen as a rising tide to lift all
boats today so who knows how it was received back then anyway at the market
failed to rival its rivals and eventually closed and was later
demolished and the area redeveloped however a Street Market serving the
local community prevailed here many Jews facing persecution in Eastern
Europe in the late 1800's and early 1900's fled to the relative safety of London
and as first wave of immigrants settled in the cheapest parts of town and East
London was one of them so with an increasing Jewish community and Saturday
being the Jewish day of rest the market eventually switched to Sundays to serve
the local community it became an outlet for traders from other markets to
shift leftover stock from Saturday markets in other parts of town it was an
outlet store long before out-of-town outlet stores had been invented
especially for flowers and that reputation prevailed and the rest is
history today it is a phenomenal place to visit
besides the market the street is lined with stores selling antiques crafts art
and plant and flower paraphernalia and there are also a few great cafes coffee
shops and pubs
(music)
okay ladies and gentleman I hope you enjoyed this little look at Columbia Road flower market I'am going to head
off now and i'll see you guys a little later in the month
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