People have got used to buying all they need in the same space and that’s why the number of shopping centers in London keep rising. Lewisham Shopping Centre is one example. Right in front of it and even before it existed, Lewisham market was already there.

We are lucky to have several markets in Lewisham where we can find almost anything and Lewisham Market is one of the most popular ones. It began in 1906 and from the very beginning, it became a very lively market where people could find from matches, collar studs, bootlaces, and pins to horses.

Nowadays, you can buy fresh fruit and vegetables, flowers, fabric, clothing, street food, confectionary, and household items. Apart from that, the Sunday market is a general market selling non-perishable goods. If you have lived in Lewisham for a very long time, you probably know that the same family has run some stalls since the market began.

Sadly, markets are not as busy as they used to be, so it’s in our hands to keep them running. We have very good reasons for supporting street markets: they are usually run by local people, they are important spaces for socialising and they are part of our identity as a neighborhood. Surely Lewisham market has changed as people who live in Lewisham have changed, but the market is still there, telling us who we are and how much we’ve changed.