Some people may think that wandering round Hackney, Hoxton and Shoreditch on a wet Sunday morning can be depressing. Wrong! The weather makes no difference if you are taking in the markets at Columbia Road, Cheshire Street, Brick Lane and Spitalfields. Try it sometime.
The atmosphere in the Columbia Road flower market was colourful - in every sense. This is where to find a bargain bloom, some eye-catching ornaments and pots for the garden and trays of bedding plants at knock-down prices. Get there early if you want to find some parking space - because by 2.00 pm it's finished.
There are some remarkable Victorian terraces around the market - at remarkable prices! Yet back in the 1970s the developers were hovering around, bulldozing large areas and putting up some pretty dreadful-looking blocks of flats. Some of the old rows of terraced houses from the late 1800s have survived - Elwin Street and Quilter Street for example - and there are other buildings - schools, churches, old industrial premises - which remind you of the days when living conditions in the East End were harsh and bringing up large families was a tough prospect.
Now in Brick Lane and Spitalfields you have glossy shops which are at the cutting edge of fashion and design; restaurants that serve a bewildering choice of Asian food and numerous stalls selling everything from mobile phones to bicycles. It's a vibrant and heady concoction of races, cultures and language. Try it one Sunday and you won't be disappointed.
If you want to know more about walking the streets of London then take a look at our special programme covering May to September. Later in the Summer there's a Spitalfields walk scheduled - and you could book a place now.
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