Portobello Market has been going since 1860. It boasts the largest antiques street market in the world, is a source of inspiration for fashion designers, song writers and film directors, receives over a million visitors a year... and is at risk. In Portobello Voices, Blanche Girouard introduces us to the intoxicating mix of characters that make the market buzz - from the antique dealer to rubbish collector, sausage seller to fur coat vendor, Afghan battery seller to public school entrepreneur. Listening to their stories, learn how to spot a fake, store a fur and make a tin pan; find out what lies behind an obsession with collecting, a passion for buttons and the gusset in boxer shorts and hear how experiences of loss, abandonment and estrangement lead to a life as a market trader. Read the book, rediscover the market and become part of the solution to preserving the wonder that is Portobello.
Portobello Market has been going since 1860. It boasts the largest antiques street market in the world, is a source of inspiration for fashion designers, photographers, novelists, song writers and film directors, receives over a million visitors a year... and is at risk. Discover what really lies behind the hustle and bustle of market life. Blanche Girouard introduces us to the intoxicating mix of characters that make the market buzz - fromt he expert antiques dealer to tin-pan player; local police officer to costermonger; Afghan battery seller to French cheese merchant. Learn what it is that gets people up at six in the morning to buy and sell, and celebrate the unique and endangered Portobello Market in the process.
