Church Street, NW8
Amid clusters of antique clocks ticking in imperfect unison, hands pointing in different directions as if in disagreement over the time. Or, elsewhere, among trays of silver cutlery, polished to an ethereal shine. A place to stumble across serious watch dealers specialising in Longines and Omega and charging thousands for each; or stalls doing junk-store quartz timepieces from forgotten brands. Victorian postcards are neatly catalogued in one spot; elsewhere are kitsch Fifties bits-old diner signs, jukeboxes, that sort of thing.
We are in Church Street, which sits on the broad smudge of a border that fractions St John's Wood from Marylebone. It is a thoroughfare from Edgware Road to Lisson Grove, at one end cafés, carpet shops and places that promise everything for a pound, although almost nothing is. Here there is a daily street market, fresh fish sold next to clothes that must smell of them, fruit and veg, piles of plastic shoes.
At the other, at the Lisson Grove end, are windows filled with walnut desks, club chairs, lamps shaped like faraway animals. These are the antique shops, where a single purchase might come in at twice what it would cost to buy out all the stalls only a few metres away. It is a tale of two halves, Church Street.
In this half of the street is a building which has stood there since the 1880s: Alfies Antiques Market. It wasn't always Alfies: when it was built, it was called Jordan's and named for the family who owned it.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Kylie Minogue loves the bar at Louie, startling Beefeaters and snooping in The Conran Shop
Currently it’s largely suitcase-based as I’ve been doing so much travel for work, but Melbourne, Australia, is home.
Are Spurs willing to invest what it takes to win trophies?
Criticism of the manager for the club's struggles misses the point-whatever he says, he's not been given a squad ready to push for the biggest honours
Crowning glory awaits Britain's golden girl
Odds-on favourite to win BBC Sports Personality, Keely Hodgkinson never doubted she was ready to conquer the world
Residents at war over £10 billion 'Shanghai-style' Earl's Court plan
Controversial proposals are causing a huge furore in west London
The secrets of selling the capital's £40m homes
Armed security, NDAs, a gold temple...inside the world of ultra high-end property deals
Jenny Packham on Amsterdam why is truly magical at Christmas time
The designer gets lost in the cobbled streets and is entranced by the city’s twinkling lights and unique spirit
Alfies Antique Market
Here is a place to blindly lose oneself in a labyrinth of staircases and thresholds.
Decline and fall: what comes after peak wellness?
The social elite are obsessed with devices that track their health but the backlash is building
The newest AI can arrange your holiday- but will it be a strictly woke one?
A lightning-quick artificial megabrain with an appetite for social justice? WILLIAM HOSIE has a chat with Claude Al
'Fame just isn't healthy
Mercury Prize-winning band English Teacher on the pressure of success, trying not to burn out and the challenges black women face in indie music