North London Food & Culture

Top 5: quirky shops and experiences in Camden Town

Go in for a new tyre, come out with a traditional death mask: genuine quirk still abounds in NW1 if you know where to look

Thierry Durieux's Bicycle Gallery on Chalk Farm Rd
Thierry Durieux’s Bicycle Gallery on Chalk Farm Rd

1. Lose yourself in a magical bookshop

Walden BooksWalden Books is the last remaining ‘secret’ shop tucked away behind the ugly new student accommodation on otherwise leafy Harmood Street. Here since the early 70s, antique and second hand tomes can be dug out, dusted off, and perused at leisure, either in the front garden or living room of what is essentially another house on a residential terrace. It’s the kind of increasingly scarce bookish environment that thankfully hasn’t been lost to the sands of time yet. Well worth the trip to pick up a yellowing, dog-eared gem.
38 Harmood Street

2. Cure all with natural medicine

amclouds(small)AcuMedic is a bit of an institution. A sprawling complex of treatment rooms, bookshop and educational centre in one, it has pioneered the holistic approach of Chinese traditional medicine in the UK for over three decades, all from this Camden High Street base. Drop in for expert acupuncture, luxurious herbal facials, therapeutic massages and all kinds of drug-free potions to combat fatigue, stress, infertility or whatever ails you. All the resources covering this popular alternative medical system can be found here, including regular training courses for those wishing to learn.
101-105 Camden High Street

3. Peruse bikes – and antiques

Bicycle GalleryThierry Durieux is one of the Stables Market’s long-standing stallholders, regularly travelling Indonesia to sourcefurniture and crafts, before shipping crates of the best bits back to the UK for sale at his modestly-titled emporium ‘thebestshopintheworld.co.uk’. He also has a vast arch near Camden Town Brewery offering second-hand workhorse/antique bicycles and skilled repairs. The latest venture combines more of his vast stocks of artefacts from the archipelago with racks of bikes and some traditional English furniture all in one, in the previous Chalk Farm Antiques shop. It’s an interesting mix of unexpected delights. Go in for a new tyre, come out with a traditional death mask.
61 Chalk Farm Road


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4. Delve into arts and crafts

Slanchogled_Picture_4The all-too inevitable loss of Camden’s lovely old art materials specialist, CS2, a few years ago was much mourned. But now there’s Slanchogled up the road, giving things a thoroughly modern twist. An eye-catching array of thousands of pretty things is stocked at street level, where paints and canvasses are joined by feathers, flowers and beads. Downstairs is even busier, and holds regular events ranging from adult calligraphy, sewing or clay painting workshops to wildly creative children’s party bashes.
66 Chalk Farm Road

5. Fight, then heal

sadhaka-yoga-centre-london-yoga-roomSet deep within the sturdy Victorian vaulted warehouses of the Stables are two amazing fitness spaces. The Xen Do studio offers ancient Shaolin Monk-influenced self-defence workouts that combine karate, oriental kicking and punching, plus western boxing. Directly opposite (in every respect) lies the calm oasis of Sadhaka Yoga, where they take the spiritual side of yoga very seriously. Explore the mysterious energies of Kundalini yoga or try classes in shamanic healing and astrology, moon dances and the Gong Bath, where attendees enter a meditative trance to crashing sound waves.
101 Stables Market


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