Columbia Road

Columbia Road Flower Market is a street market in Bethnal Green in London. The market is in operation every Sunday from 8 am to 2 pm. Traders arrive from 4 am to set up their stalls. A wide range of plants, bedding plants, shrubs, bulbs and freshly cut flowers is available - I lost count of the different types. Many of the traders are the second or third generation of their family to sell at the market. The market also has shops selling bread and cheeses, antiques, garden accessories, unusual international edibles, soap, candlesticks and Buddhist artefacts. I spent an hour or so here this morning, soaking up the atmosphere and photographing some of the goings-on.