Rummaging through an antiques market can be a joyful way to pass the time. There’s no knowing what treasures might lie in store. Those who are well seasoned in doing the rounds — increasingly, that includes interior designers on the hunt to find things that will ensure their rooms have that much-desired settled look — advise coming armed with a tape measure, a comfortable pair of shoes and cash to woo the stallholders.
Portobello Road Market, W11
‘Anything and everything a chap can unload,/is sold off the barrow in Portobello Road,’ sang David Tomlinson in the 1971 film Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Set in war-time London, the film captured the point at which Portobello morphed from food and essentials to include rag-and-bone men selling their wares. Soon after, they were joined by bric-a-brac traders and antique dealers and the stage for Portobello Market was set.
The surrounding area transformed from being rundown and shabby to affluent and fashionable in the late 1980s and then, thanks to Richard Curtis’s 1999 film Notting Hill, the market landed on the global tourist map.
‘The top end, closest to Notting Hill Gate, is a tourist hustle and focuses on lightweight things that people can put in their hand luggage and take home,’ says Rufus Hirsch of house-clearing specialists Clearance Solutions. ‘Although many of the original shops have vanished, there are plenty of places to browse; Fridays are less busy.’ His firm has a Friday stall selling art, decorative items and small pieces of furniture at the end of Portobello before it reaches Golborne Road.
‘We itemise things: if they’re quirky and fun then we’ll send them to Portobello, whereas other collectables, such as Royal Doulton figurines, go to Ford [a market and car-boot sale near Arundel in West Sussex].’
Sunbury Antiques Market
Kempton Park Racecourse, TW16
Although officially known as Sunbury Antiques Market, everyone calls it Kempton. This bimonthly fair, about a half-hour drive from west London, brings together more than 700 dealers, selling everything from stoneware jam pots to Belgian chandeliers and French farmhouse furniture.
First established by Sue Cruttenden in 1979, it’s seen as one of Europe’s premier antique markets and is held every second and last Tuesday of the month. Interior designers regularly treasure hunt among the stalls, getting there as the gates open at 6.30am to seek out original finds. Such is its success that the operators have expanded to organise off-shoot markets at Sandown, Surrey and Wimbledon, SW20.
Alfies & Grays Antiques
13–25 Church Street, NW8, and 58 Davies Street, W1
London’s largest indoor market, home to more than 70 dealers, opened in 1976 when Bennie Gray, a former journalist for The Sunday Times, bought a semi-derelict former department store building in Church Street, Marylebone. Named after his jazz-musician father, Alfies quickly gained a reputation as an eclectic souk full of unusual finds.
Today, it covers four floors and has a huge range of antiques, 20th-century designs and vintage goods. Alfies has an upmarket sister, Grays, which stands in a Grade II-listed building in Davies Street, W1, and welcomes 100-plus specialist dealers, with diverse collections of books, fine antiques and jewellery.
Frock Me!
Chelsea Old Town Hall, SW3, and Kensington Town Hall, W8
Established in 1997, this is a vintage fashion fair featuring a diverse selection of high-end antique and vintage fashion, jewellery and textiles. It’s held on the first Sunday of each month alternating between Chelsea Old Town Hall and Kensington Town Hall. Created by Matthew Adams, it was the first dedicated vintage fair to be held in the capital.
Mr Adams studied theatre and costume design at the Central School of Art and Design before hitch-hiking around Iran, Afghanistan and India in the 1970s, trading clothes and bags to make ends meet. On his return, he worked at various West End theatres, selling antiques and vintage clothing at the weekends, before launching Frock Me!. Each exhibitor has its specialism, be it an era or a label, such as Ossie Clark and Biba.
Chiswick High Road Market, W4
Taking place on the second Sunday of every month, this street market brings together architectural salvage, brocante finds foraged from across the Channel, collectables and ephemera. It’s run by Jennifer Titmuss, who has a long-established market in St Albans and brings many of the dealers with her from Hertfordshire to Chiswick.
If the items sold here look too polished for you, the parent-and-teacher association of nearby Chiswick School has organised a popular car-boot sale on the school grounds since 1984. It’s held on the first Sunday of the month.
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