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A mooch around and a bargain

Women at Watney

01 February 2021

Society

The market is about more than buying and selling. Sometimes women visit for fruit and vegetables; and sometimes for family and friends. For several generations the market has provided valuable social connections and networks.

The ordinary East Enders, they like to have a mooch around and bargain.– Patricia

Black and white portrait of a woman smiling and wearing a veil in Watney Market

Its true, if your mother went down to Watney Street – we use to on Saturday morning – you never knew when you were going to get home because there was always someone your mother knew and they would get talking and I use to get cross and say ‘mum can we go?’– Joyce

Three women sitting down outside in a cafe in watney market - black and white

They’d come out in all weathers, bless ‘em. The people were very friendly here, you know. Which I love about this market. You can walk down here and always bump into someone you know and say ‘how’s everything going’ – Erica

Black and white photo of a woman carrying a cardboard box and a woman pushing a pram in the background

When you are from the same community, you kind of have this code of familiarity, even if you don’t know the person. I use to always think ‘that’s really strange’, because I knew my Mum didn’t know them personally, but she’d call them ‘brother’ in Bengali… For someone who had left a family and come to London, and to have a community that acted like a family, that’s very important – Night