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London's Borough Market, a short stroll from London Bridge Station, is said to be one of the largest food markets in the world. It runs as a wholesale food market seven days a week between 2am and 8am, and also as a retail food market in the daytime from Thursday to Saturday only.
As well as being one of the largest food markets it is also one of the oldest. It has existed in roughly the same place for many centuries; it was first documented in 1276, but the market's organisers claim that it has existed since Roman times. It was given a Royal Charter in 1550, but it caused so much traffic congestion that the charter was revoked by Parliament in 1754 and the market was moved a short distance (essentially across a main road) to the present site next to Southwark Cathedral.
Despite the market's history and the fact that it has been used in films including "Bridget Jones' Diary," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," and "Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels," a significant number of the buildings in the Borough Market are to be demolished as part of the Thameslink Programme, a multi-staged redevelopment of the transport infrastructure in London. Although the market should continue, this will have a huge impact on it and the immediately surrounding area.
I shot this panorama on Saturday in the late morning, with a brace of rabbits hanging from a stall on one side and organic vegetables and mulled wine by the glass on the other, and a cacophony of smells all around. You can go around sampling snippets of food from all over; special cheeses, outlandish smoothies, fresh breads, even tiny morsels of rare truffles if you ask nicely. For a late breakfast I had the most delicious fried risotto ball with smoked haddock and cheddar cheese inside.
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