Fire destroys huge Camden Market site

[emad]

...and Amy Winehouse/Pete Doherty's fav boozer the Hawley (Whorely?) Arms...

Blaze ravages London market area
BBC News

Up to 100 firefighters are tackling a major blaze that is spreading rapidly through the famous market area in Camden Town, north London.
The fire is reportedly centred on Camden Canal Market, to the east of Chalk Farm Road.

There are no reports of casualties so far but London Fire Brigade said people were reported trapped in the fire.

Firefighters were alerted at about 7.20pm to a blaze at the north side of the market.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7237119.stm


LOOKS pretty damned scary to me.

Much of the market is built on heroin money laundering and dodgy local criminal enterprises.

A BBC radio show this evening commented that arson has not been ruled out and that the gutted area is worth 20 times current rent values.

Developers have long tried to turn it into a chic and expensive shopping mall but have been thwarted by the legions of pot-peddling locals hooked on the 1980s nostalgia of the place.

[mr blur]

1. "1980s nostalgia of the place"?

Huh! I remember the 1970s there - now that was when it was cool!

[emad]

6. In 1971 three guys with a guitar, afghan sheepskins and funny-smelling

pipes set out a stall opposite the vacuum cleaner repair shop near the canal.

And the rest is hystery!

I used to have a house nearby in Gloucester Crescent, circa 1973/4, and remember how the first of the big narco-dosh arrived and reinvented itself as bona fide antique dealers after a purge in Notting Hill's Portobello Road.

A few major IRA busts in Albert Street and Arlington Road plus the riot and mayhem of the Roundhouse's New York Dolls gig soon changed the area into separate ghettos.

The Hawley Arms always was the worst druggie hangout, mostly full of hells angels and freebase freaks.

Glad the fire this weekend didn't spread as far as the Marine Ices icecream parlor up the road.

emad

[TheMightyFavog]

2. I worked there over the summer!

I worked in Camden when I was Interning with a major press organization this last summer. Our offices were in a building once used as a tram shed on the end of Oval Road, right next door to the Camden Lock Market. Hell, my office over looked the lock, and I could see the Hawley Arms from there.

As for the Camden Lock Market, I would eat lunch there occasionally when I wanted something more substanstial for lunch than an egg and cress sandwich and crisps from the Morrison's next door. There's this great little place there that made the best Vietnamese won ton soup. There was also this Indian place that had some pretty good curries. The best part was that everybody who worked or interned for this press organization usually got a nice discount from all the food vendors there.

I hope the Camden Lock market is OK.

[T_i_B]

3. 1980's nostalgia my arse

Nu-metal and underground techno were the big things in Camden when I wa hanging round there. Camden has a much wider selection of circus freaks than just old Sisters of Mercy fans you know

[TheMightyFavog]

7. Ahh, yes...

Nothing says Camden like walkng up the High Street, behind a goth couple who are sharing a joint, smoking it right out in the open.

[T_i_B]

8. One of my biggest pet hates.....

...is people who smoke dope in public. Not all of us want to breath in those fumes and get stoned!

[D-Notice]

4. I was in Camden

on Saturday evening as I was out with friends.

When we got there a bit chunk of the high street had been cordoned off with police tape and fire engines where everywhere.

Thankfully it didn't affect the most important part - the pub we wanted to visit!

We went back on Sunday morning to inspect the damage - the Hawley Arms pub - across from the Stables Market was still on fire!

[SweetLeftFoot]

5. Sounds to me

like some developers paid a few local junkies to burn it.