Paula Erizanu

Last month marked the one year birthday of the Museum of Curiosities - a weird and wonderful venue in South Hackney crammed with taxidermy, Victorian porn books, mystical objects and even McDonald's Happy Meal toys over two floors. It's also home to the Wunderkabbinet - an odd assortment of objects collected by the museum's founder Victor Wynd.  Because the museum was created as a manifesto against the 'labeled drawers dictated by an obscurantist elite establishment', you won't find much background information to the objects it displays - so here's the stories behind five objects that embody the spirit of the place:   An eighteenth century mermaid Paula Erizanu   1. A mermaid  Forget ginger haired Ariel, a mermaid is really a monkey with a fish tail. At least by eighteenth century standards when sailors brought the monsters from the seas. Wynd bought this one at an Essex flea market.  The male version, the merman, can be found at the British Museum; 'caught' and mummified in Japan in the 1700s, it was then gifted to the grandson of Queen Victoria, Prince Arthur of Connaught.     A dodo bird skeletonPaula Erizanu   2. A dodo bird skeleton Wynd found several skeletons of the extinct birds at a private collector who had inherited the bones. Only five private owners in the world have dodo birds; two of them bought the bones from Wynd. The auction house Christie's evaluated them at £10-15,000 per bone. Now multiply that by 92 bones.           3. Three slides of Victorian huma

To feel at home in a big city, we need to find our own village with a butcher, baker and maybe even a candlestick maker. The weekly farmers' market at Chapel Market is exactly that. Less touristy and more neighbourly than the ever-popular Borough Market, you'll find it between Baron Street and Penton Street, merely feet away from Angel tube station. Here's what you can expect on a Sunday when it's open from 10am-2pm: 1. Seasonal goods for reasonable prices  Been so blinded by the supermarket lights that you don't remember when beetroot is in season? Here's a farmers' market that'll refresh your memory with its range of top produce. If you're looking for treats, you can find meat pies, sausage rolls and cakes – and of course, a bargain. Get a bunch of anemones for £2.50, fresh pasta for £5 per portion and game starting from £3.     2. Stories and people Characters at Chapel Market range from a New Zealand cheese maker, a friendly milk man and a Hungarian guy selling sauerkraut to the students making extra cash packing your greens and root vegetables. Shoppers in search of conversation should look out for flower-seller Robert Albone, an English teacher and theologian who sees the market as a treasure trove.   3. Plenty of shops and cafes Try the Chapel fruit and veg shop for colourful and fragrant produce or the nearby Delhi Grill for lunch. Decorated with '80s Bollywood posters, it's a local favourite that serves slow-cooked recipes like chicken masala or lamb biriyani from