Saturday Shopping: East Dulwich

My journey into work could not be much better; a leisurely early morning stroll across Peckham Rye, is a fantastic way to start the day whatever the weather. Crows flap around me as I walk and I am reminded of the wonderful, made in Peckham, screen printed products (see hanging lampshade in picture left) from Captured on the Rye, on Pellatt Road, where incidentally as from Saturday 22^nd June there is a small market (more details nearer the time).
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I stop in at Homemade, on Barry Road, to pick up a coffee and pause to look in the window of Rye Books, (Upland Road) where Alastair Kenward always has a great selection of new and interesting titles. If anything catches my eye – as it usually does - I make a note of it and email him when I get to the office to reserve it for me. 

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Passing the Clipper I think about getting my hair cut so I text my friend Daryl who works there to make an appointment. I stop to buy some flowers for the shop from Fresh Flower Company and remember that I need to pick up some more Vetiver by Guerlain from Kazia Pelka’s Dr Boo; the classic fragrance from 1959 that I have worn since I was a teenager.
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I always stop for a smile and read Mark’s ever changing display of funny cards in the window of Postmark. The Simon Drew ones are my favourites, it is even more funny to think that I gave Simon one of his first orders when I was a buyer at the Covent Garden General Store 25 years ago.
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Lordship Lane is the envy of boroughs up and down the country. I am often asked by visiting councillors and council officers how Lordship Lane developed into the unique mix of independent shops that it is. The growth has been organic, but thank goodness for it, as it has made it one of the nicest places to live in London.
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A J Farmers is one of the best shops in London, I spend hours browsing in there, it is fall of the sort of old fashioned things you cannot get anymore; brown betty tea pots, wooden scrubbing brushes, metal buckets, string washing up mops, dolly clothes pegs. We have a Roullier White mail order customer who mentioned to me that she could not find starch, so I buy it in Farmers and post it to her. If I do not need anything I usually pop in any way for a gossip with Sophie, Julie, Nicky, Pat or Maureen.
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If I am meeting friends I will quite often meet at Le Chandelier, where Daphne Kellett serves an amazing section of teas. I always have a chrysanthemum tea and sit there proudly while my guests marvel at their gorgeous surroundings. I leave feeling refreshed and ready to face the rest of the day.
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As Roullier White has a vintage feel I am always looking for inspiration and fortunately in East Dulwich we have lots. Ed Warehouse, run by Ed Hynes, is an Aladdin’s cave of all things vintage, opposite Gary and Jane Cady’s Give+Take, is a vintage shop with a twist as profits go to supporting Breakthrough Breast Cancer. Round the corner in Upland Road, Heather, owner of ChiChiRaRa, has a passion for fashion and it shows in her selection and collection of sensational one off pieces.

John and Belinda, who run North Cross Vintage, on Fellbrigg Road just at the corner with North Cross Road, have one of the best vintage stores in London, and they are a thoroughly charming couple too. The shop is packed with quirky treasures. At Christmas I bought my sister a Salvation Army Officer’s bonnet from the 1920's, which now surrealy adorns a wooden butcher’s pig in her Dorset kitchen.
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I love an excuse to pop along to the Blackbird Bakery on Grove Vale so I do not mind volunteering to go out for the lunches, their sandwiches are huge and great value, I pick up some bread for home too. Michael and I are wanting to redecorate our hall, and deliberating over a scheme, so I sometimes pop in to Colour Makes People Happy and consider the spectrum of painted clogs that are cleverly attached to the wall.

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Talking of colour, we have a black and white dress code at Roullier White, so a sneaky pair of colourful sock adds a bit of brightness. I buy bamboo socks from Karavan Eco Home, where Karen Orchard has an inspiring collection of green gifts and trendy items for the home. Karen’s Rolser shopping trolleys are perfect for those of us who are committed to buying locally.
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Katharine MacLaverty and Dan Rigby’s Ed on North Cross Road carries funky men’s fashion as well as women’s wear and fun things for the home. I love their boho plates, which will cheer up any summer garden party even if the skies are a little grey and their timeless Nordic stoneware. Michele and Gloria at Mrs Robinson specialise in mid-century style home accessories and furniture, I love the Scandi phone and Arco floor lamps which work in any interior and are hugely practical over desk, dining table, reading chair or sofa. Harking back to earlier eras, Sarah Dragten’s Old Villa deals in antique style furniture and furnishings in beautifully muted colours and natural, neutral tones. I like the Provençal quilted bed covers and linen towels.
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Of course it is a Saturday so the busy and buzzy North Cross Road market is a must-do. (I will speak more about the joys of North Cross Road market in a future blog as its demand much more space than I can afford it here) I stop to have a chat with celebrity jeweller Lisa E Moss and admire her latest pieces, buy bags of handmade fudge from the lovely Hayley Redmond and lots of divine stew or salad, depending on the season, from my two wonderfully witty friends Karen and Alison, known affectionately as ‘The Girls’ and professionally as Mother’sDumplings.
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I love it if I need to buy a present for my friend Emma, as I just pop into the wonderful artisan jeweller, Nina Christie, and ask Nina what Emma would like, she has not been wrong once.
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Chener Books is a store in which I have enjoyed browsing for 35 years (!) and I always come out with some unexpected delight. I could never buy my books on line, it is so much more fun to buy them from a bookshop and so much better for the local economy. Plus that amazing smell that book shops have cannot be beaten.

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My mother is an avid knitter so I always look out for new shades of wool for her in Maggie Robinson’s Sew East Dulwich, where there are plenty of books on the subject too and all the accessories one would need. I love the preserving jars of vintage buttons.
temple to the craft;
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If I don’t feel like cooking then its pasta from East Dulwich Deli, fish pie from Moxon’s or fish cakes from Franklin’s Farm Shop where I pick up my fruit and vegetables or from Chris at Pretty Traditional, where I get my fix of his delicious pineapple and mint smoothies. SMBS has a fantastic selection of herbs and spices and all sorts of deli delights and, if it is between September and May, then Vacherin from the Cheese Block is one of my seasonal guilty pleasures, it is delicious baked speared with rosemary, served with the Cheese Block’s rosemary and sea salt focaccia.
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Stopping off on my way home I might catch up with some friends and fellow traders for a Gin Martini next door at Tim Oakley’s fantastic House of Tippler – where I recommend the Sunday lunches and in particular the mixed roast – for a Gin Martini with Ganchia Bianco Vermouth and a touch of celery bitters.
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If I am going out I will hand pick some chocolate from Hope and Greenwood for my host, pop in a and pick up the book I reserved from Rye Books and finally bag a bottle of chilled Chablis from Barry’s Food Stores on Barry Road. This brilliant shop - packed with goodies that its modest frontage belies - has helped me out of many a crisis and is even open on Christmas morning!
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Then its home, back across the Rye, to hand-feed ham from William Rose to my waiting, beautiful, patient but very spoiled British Blue, Lola.  

An edited version of this interview appeared originally on the Completely London Blog. Please click here.

Lawrence's monthly shopping page appears in the SE magazines group of publications. Please click here.