Esoteric London

Tottenham Road, London, N1. Photo ©RogerDean 2014

London, Volume V – Edited by Charles Knight, 1843:

It is interesting to watch for a short time the business of the [Covent Garden] flower-market. This is the Londoners’ flower-garden, and is resorted to in the early summer morning by many a lover of flowers compelled by his occupation to live in the densely-crowded parts of London, and who steals a few moments from the busy day to gratify one of the purest tastes. This out-of-door floral exhibition has undergone an extraordinary improvement within the last few years, and it is really an attractive show. It keeps alive a taste which in many instances would otherwise languish; and it is not a little “refreshing” to see the humble mechanic making a purchase of a root of ‘hen and chicken daisies”, […].