LONDON: Camden Market
Channel: Londisland
Date: 2020-08-26

LONDON: Camden Market

Camden Lock is a small part of Camden Town, London Borough of Camden, England, which was formerly a wharf with stables on the Regent's Canal. It is immediately to the north of Hampstead Road Locks, a twin manually operated lock. The twin locks together are "Hampstead Road Lock 1"; each bears a sign so marked. 

Hawley Lock and Kentish Town Lock are a short distance away to the east; to the west is a long level pound (also known as tract or reach) — it is 27 miles (43 km) to the next lock.

By the late 1980s, Camden Lock was attracting increasing numbers of foreign tourists to the market. In the early days, the emphasis had been on hand-crafted goods, but there was a steady increase in mass-produced goods on sale, and some concern locally that Camden Town would be taken over by tourists, and lose its local amenities. Some of the craft units had become retail shops, and there was a problem with the large amount of litter that the market produced. 

Northside's lease only ran to the end of the 1980s, and so they proposed a £10 million redevelopment, jointly managed by UK Land Limited. They promised new shops, a new pub, and a new market yard, which would be open throughout the week, rather than just at weekends. The plans included a Victorian style retail hall, which would provide indoor accommodation for some of the market. A four-storey building was erected, fronting Chalk Farm Road, and the space between it and Dingwalls, which had been the site of the original market in the 1970s, was covered by a glazed cast iron and brick structure the designs for which were based on a Victorian gas showroom. Dingwalls Dance Hall was refurbished, and a comedy club was built in the East Yard.

The second phase of redevelopment began after the bridge sign had been painted. In January 1990 the mural was awarded an environment award by the Evening Standard, which declared it to be "a credit to London". Despite the increased timescales and costs of doing so, Northside attempted to redevelop the East Yard without closing the market, in order to retain its vibrancy. The work was completed by the summer of 1991, and although there were detractors and accusations of commercialism, it proved to be a success. Some 10 million people were visiting the various Camden markets each year, generating a turnover of an estimated £50 million. During the week, trade in the market hall was slow, as few market traders wanted to be there all week, but Northside suggested that the traders form small co-operatives, and offered discounts for those that did so. This resulted in all of the traders being there at the weekends, but them taking it in turns to look after groups of stalls during the week.

The former Dingwalls yard is now known as Camden Lock Market, and is one of a group of five markets in the vicinity which are collectively called Camden Market. It is a busy market which attracts many visitors, and with music venues, cafes and canal towpath walks, it has become one of London's most popular tourist destinations. There are a number of art installations in the area, including a large cut-steel sculpture by English artist Edward Dutkiewicz in the square beside the lock.

Filmed in March 2011