Town Mouse on Camden fire

Camden market went up in flames last weekend; Jessica threatens she'll head down there with her black nail polish if a property developer moves in on the scene

Town mouse; country life
town mouse new
(Image credit: Country Life)

When I was a teenage town mouse, there was only one thing my friends and I wanted: to be allowed to go to Camden Market without adult supervision and spend all our pocket money on black nail varnish, black Doc Martens boots, spray-in pink hair dye, black-lace fingerless gloves, orange lipstick and badges with rude slogans on them. And teenage girls I know now want much the same thing, despite the abundance of cheap and trendy clothes shops on every other high street.

The Goth's favourite market has not only kept going, it's never stopped selling the same wares. The streets remain relentlessly grubby, the stalls still sell sloppy crêpes filled with mushroom and cheese sauce and the tourists continue to flock. The market has always stood for seamy anarchy, teenage sub-societies and grime. Which is why I was saddened by the raging fire last weekend, that destroyed 300 stalls and more. I hope pin-striped property developers don't move in and try to change it to something new and shiny. Or I'll be down there with my black nail polish, writing graffiti on the pavements.

Country Life

Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.