Vintage and record shops in Camden

Go on a weekday afternoon, take cash for the punk shop, and give yourself until 18:00: that is when most of Camden’s vintage traders start pulling the shutters. Camden Market itself runs 10:00 to 19:00 every day, but the stalls set their own hours, and the good stuff goes early at weekends. Here is where we dig, from the Stables at the top of Chalk Farm Road to a school playground in NW5 on a Sunday morning.

The Stables: start in the Horse Tunnels

The Stables on Chalk Farm Road, NW1, is where Camden’s clothes hunting lives, and the Horse Tunnel Market underneath it is where to begin.

Camden Vintage, Horse Tunnels

Daily, 10:00 to 18:00. Units D10 to D12 in the Horse Tunnels, and the place for labels. According to its Camden Market listing it stocks everything from Burberry trench coats to classic Barbour jackets, plus Ray-Ban sunglasses and Hermès silk scarves, for men and women, with shoes and accessories on the side. If you want a wax jacket that has already done the breaking in, this is the stop.

St Cyr Vintage, Saddle Row

Monday to Friday 12:00 to 18:00, weekends 10:30 to 18:30. At 56 Saddle Row, NW1, St Cyr is the dress shop: 1950s prom dresses, 1970s maxis and a fashion library tucked away at the back. The detail that wins it for us is that they size every item and will measure you, which takes the guesswork out of buying a frock made before standard sizing settled down. Note the late weekday opening.

The record shops

Camden has always sold records to people in leather jackets, and the two shops below are the ones still doing it on their own terms. One warning first: Sounds That Swing, the rockabilly and garage shop that sat on Parkway from 2009, has closed. Its label, No Hit Records, says on its own site that the bricks and mortar shop is gone and it now sells online. Do not walk up Parkway looking for it.

All Ages Records, 27A Pratt Street

Every day, 11:30 to 18:30, bank holidays included. All Ages is an independent punk and hardcore shop that has been, in its own words, totally DIY since 2003. It is a small room packed with records, CDs, DVDs, T-shirts, fanzines, books, patches and badges. It also sells London gig tickets over the counter, with a 50p booking fee, and that part is cash only. They buy and trade used punk and hardcore collections in good condition, and the pinboard is the best gig guide in NW1: flyers, band-wanted notes and zines, all free to take. Details are on allagesrecords.com.

Raven Records, 24 Camden Road

Closed Tuesdays; open until 20:00 Thursday to Saturday. Raven is a heavy metal record shop that doubles as what it calls the world’s only alcohol-free metal bar. The racks carry vinyl, CDs, books, band merch and patches. The bar pours 0.0% spirits, draught beers, ciders and cocktails, and there is heavy metal coffee and occult-themed tea for the daytime crowd. Hours on its own site: Monday 12:00 to 18:00, Wednesday 12:00 to 18:00, Thursday and Friday 12:00 to 20:00, Saturday 11:00 to 20:00 and Sunday 12:00 to 18:00. It is a five-minute walk east of Camden Town station, so pair it with Pratt Street, which runs off the same end of the high street.

Sunday morning: the car boot in NW5

If you want vintage before anybody has priced it for Camden Market, head up to Kentish Town on a Sunday. Bootyfull Car Boot runs every Sunday from 11:00 to 14:00 in the grounds of William Ellis School on Highgate Road, NW5. The Love Camden listing puts entry at £1. It is a proper car boot: clothes, records, books and house clearance, with the usual rule that the best stuff goes in the first hour. From Kentish Town station it is a short walk up Highgate Road and is the next stop from Camden Town on the High Barnet branch of the Northern line.

A route that works

• Weekday, 12:00: start at Raven Records on Camden Road, then cross to All Ages on Pratt Street.
• 13:00: walk up Camden High Street, over the canal at the Lock, and into the Stables.
• 13:30: St Cyr on Saddle Row, then down into the Horse Tunnels for Camden Vintage.
• Before 18:00: settle up. Stall hours vary, and Camden Market says so itself.

Our tips

Weekdays are calmer and the traders have time to talk. Cash still helps: at All Ages it is required for gig tickets, and a few market stalls prefer it. Check the fit before you pay, because returns at a market are a conversation, not a policy. And if the high street is rammed, use Camden Road or Chalk Farm stations instead of Camden Town: the market’s own visitor page puts Chalk Farm about ten minutes’ walk from the Stables, and Camden Road about eight.