Can someone recommend a proper farmers market near(ish) by. I know there’s a weekly one at the Horniman but it really doesn’t make the grade if you’re after a market with a good selection of produce, proteins and possibly dairy and bread.
When I lived near Oval, their fantastic market could allow you to do almost the week’s food shopping. I miss that.
the weekly ( Sunday I think) market by Herne Hill station always seems to have really good bread, baked goods and loads more interesting things. Herne Hill
75 bus to Penge East and take a train.
Brockley market isn’t far and has a good reputation but I haven’t been for a few years.
I agree with the OP that Horniman farmers market is a bit of a let down.
I remember when it 1st started there were a couple of really good fruit and veg stalls, an excellent cheese stall and it was worth going to.
I may be wrong but I seem to remember it was on on Saturday and Sunday
Now we seldom bother and when we do go its..meh.
There’s definitely the customer base for a Farmers market with a good varied spread of fresh produce as well as just the ‘street food’ vans and crafty gifty stuff.
Try Crystal Palace Food Market every Saturday, Haynes Lane SE19 3AP. 10am to 3pm. They have fish, meat, dairy, bread and much more. https://www.crystalpalacefoodmarket.co.uk Parking at the Sainsbury’s car park.
That Crystal Palace one looks great. Their origin story on the website is a good read and shows what an effort went into establishing it.
leaving aside the hard work, what location in Forest Hill might work? Horniman market is not quite right - is that down to the location?
Where would people show up in numbers in our area - or are we destined to forever look enviously at places like Brockley, Herne Hill and Crystal Palace?
The current car park in Forest Hill Station. Horniman is obviously the wrong place for the market: just one more thing that doesn’t work in Forest Hill and one more reason why IMHO we should look at petitioning for a Community Governance Review for Forest Hill, with the aim of creating a Town Council.
I was thinking the section of Perry Vale between the Pantry and the S Circular. Close it and no parking Sundays 10-4 for a weekly market.
Also, none of the markets we have mentioned needed a town council to make it happen. They are all just in London Boroughs like we are.
Have we just been unlucky with our councillors and MP, that didn’t get involved in advocacy for Forest Hill? We also lost our mobile fishmonger because, according to him, Lewisham wouldn’t accommodate his van anywhere practical in Forest Hill.
[update: I’m obviously wrong about this. Grant is still coming to Forest Hill. There’s a separate thread ‘Fresh Fish on Thursdays’. Sorry for the incorrect info.]
Not really - it seems to me that farmer’s markets like the CP one are usually driven by the enthusiasm , skills and time of individuals to get a project together and make it happen, not directly from local government.
The Forest Hill Society did used to run a local market just like this in the car park at Forest Hill station, and it did very well. It was negatively affected by the Horniman market opening, so it eventually stopped, but could well be done again.
I like the idea of using the start of Perry Vale for this on a Sunday. It is not a huge area, but could definitely be a good location until other opportunities open up (more on that in the future)
The station is the most obvious place and worked well. It is one of the three places with highest footfall in Forest Hill (Horniman and Sainsburys are the others and Bell Green slightly further away).
The advantage of a town centre location is that it supports the local high street rather than competing. But weekend footfall is probably higher at the horniman. Which makes me conclude that the issue with the market is not the location, it is the quality and diversity of the stalls there. It isn’t easy to set up a market with the right stalls to attract enough people.
But it is also worth remembering that when the Forest Hill Food Fair was set up we didn’t have independent shops for veg, meat, bread or cheese. After 18 months of running the market we had most of these and we still do (with some changes along the way). Setting up a successful market today in the station would likely compete with Pantry, Beetroot and Beans, and the Butchery (or the new name). I’m not sure that would improve the high street but it might.
We scarcely ever go to the Horniman one- we’d probably all agree it is a truly lovely location for a traffic free market with a super view. Accessible by bus or walking.
I’ve lost track of how popular it might actually be these days. I must take another look. Is it actually really good or are there elements of it that really don’t work. It’s been going a long while so those traders must find it works for them
It is popular especially with families.
I think the location is good, and the market used to have a good spread of stalls when it opened.
Now its largely street food,cakes,some bread I think there was a stall selling some sort of meat when we last went and crochet goods,crystals etc…
not much choice for fruit and veg or deli goods…
I don’t think making the food offering better would impact our local traders very much at all..
I remember when the market started there was a fab stall where you could pick and mix fresh salad leaves, and they had a really decent selection of veg..Now I think most people go to get a breakfast bap etc and mooch around with the kids.
Its a bit like a mini North X Road mkt really
So I made my way to Brockley Market on Saturday. Sadly, it is not the most conveniently located market for Forest Hill, but since I’d just started using e-bikes - Forest got me there in under 20 minutes.
It’s exactly what I was looking for. Three really good fruit and veg stalls with a great range of seasonal veg. A fishmonger was a bonus. The butcher was okay but I think we are better served by Henricks. Though if you remember the lightly bearded guy from the Butchery, I found him there now working for Mons on their cheese stall.
There were also a range of food trucks, so a breakfast galette was enjoyed, along side a great flat white. A little later I would have been into the small pop-up bar as well.
This is exactly the type of market I had in Oval… but sadly it is a bit too far and out of the way for a weekly shop. Perhaps once in a while. But this is exactly the type of farmers market that we need in Forest Hill.
I’ll give Crystal Palace a go this weekend.