These photos capture the glory days of London’s East End markets

A coffin, £15: ‘Try it for size!’. Stacks of clunky 19-inch TVs. Heaps of mismatched clothes, spilling from bin liners. Flower pots, bags of soil, crockery, candle sticks, cufflinks, a goat.

Back in the day, you could find almost anything in London’s markets if you set your mind to it. In the East End, the Brick Lane and Petticoat Lane markets were a staple of the community: a meeting point, a ritual, a place where the thrumming calls of sellers mingled with the hustle and bustle of buyers. It’s this buzz which self-taught photographer Paul Trevor captures in a new photobook documenting the scenes and characters of east London’s markets from the early 1970s right through the nineties. 

These days, Columbia Road Flower Market might be slightly more full of tourists looking to ‘get off the beaten track’ than Cockney locals, but still, market culture perseveres. Check out some of Paul Trevor’s photographs of London’s East End markets, taken between 1974 and 1992, below. 

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 Market Day is available from Hoxton Mini Press, £20.