Shop in the market which inspired TV's Eastenders

There are plenty of nice farmer's markets in London nowadays where you can pick up 20 different types of cheese and get hold of a somalian organic cous-cous, but if you're after a market experience that is not quite so gentrified, why not head up to Dalston and see the infamous Ridley Road Market.

Reputedly the inspiration for Walford Market in the BBC soap Eastenders, the market has retained it's own style despite the erection of the nearby Kingsland Shopping Centre (which is not exactly upmarket anyway), and is still the sort of place which will surprise you with the range of things you can buy.

The market is certainly a rich mix of cultures, and the Asian, Greek, Turkish and West Indian communities who have settled in the area all add to its distinctive charm. Ridley Road is widely recognised as a local institution, so much so that next week a committee of MPs are visiting to examine it as part of an inquiry into how to protect Britain's markets.

If you're an Eastenders fan, you might also visit nearby Fassett Square, which locals will tell you was the inspiration for the fictional Albert Square. The market is beside Dalston Kingsland railway station, or accessible by one of the many bus routes which travel up Kingsland Road.

Click here to see the location on a map.

^{^Picture from Wikipedia under Wikimedia Commons^}