Broadway Market, Saturdays, East London, Hackney

Organic market, and other goods, Saturdays 9-2, Broadway, off London Fields.

One road lined with shops.

Now, obviously this is a rant, somewhat.
I HATE this market. I refer to it as "Fraudway Market", namely because nobody should pay a tenner for a carrot with a bit of mud on it purely because it is organic, and also because it is entirely peopled with frauds who say things like "Oh yes, we live in Hackney don't you know" as if they are being dangerous and edgy. They don't live in Hackney. They live in a set for a film about Hackney called Broadway Market.

Now, i'm not knocking regeneration per se. I can well remember when you had to run the gauntlet in that area and dodge drug dealers etc to get to the pub. And the days when the Cat and Mutton wasn't peopled with young trendies, but people drinking their benefits and pissing themselves. BUT this is not the real Hackney. It's like a Richard Curtis version, with about three ethnic people and only picaresque elderly who are prepared to pay the equivalent of a weeks child benefit for a burger.

But to the point of this. This is no place for a pram. These people are here to be seen, and lounge, and pay a small fortune for a coffee at one of the dinky coffee shops that BLOCK THEENTIRE RUDDY PAVEMENT. These people do not move for prams. To be fair, they don't tut at you either, they just don't see you, as you aren't one of them. Unless, that is, you are a "Trendy Hackney mum" with a three wheeled drive pram and a fractious baby who'd really rather be somewhere else but simply must be seen dressed in the latest off white organic baby gear, and be paraded up and down all morning. Never mind the baby, let me seen pushing it, think these dads, as they wander the stalls with their already thin again partners (surely they birthed at the pool surrounded by private doulas? Or maybe they had their babies pulled out early a la Posh to avoid stretchmarks? Either way, no earthly mums these, these are mums who are out shopping organically three days aftre the birth, presumably because they can then chuck the produce at the underpaid au pair and tell her to steam it.)

It's busy, overpriced, overated. You will be bumped into, ignored, and if you do want a coffee, there's no-where to sit or get your pram, leastways, on a Saturday (different in the weeks, i'll review a coupla places later). Only go if you wish to observe in person the type of person who's pushing up house prices in the area and "regenerating" it with shops only 1% of us can afford. It's not a pretty sight. Your baby will hate you if you go. As will I.