Friday Flowers Club #38~Floral Street
When Eros first arose [1893] he did so from a bed of flowers and perfume, for at his base sat the flower girls of London, those baskets full of posies, so fresh and so cheap…They were one of the sights of London and more people looked at them and bought their wares than looked at Eros.”_
Walter Macqueen-Pope, ‘Goodbye Piccadily’
Hello Friends.
There is a whisper of Spring in the air. The suggestion of return and quiet renewal.
We spent the half-term holiday introducing our son to London for the first time, a place as far removed from our sacred green landscapes here in South-West Sheffield as one could get. And yet, there in the heart of WC2 we happened upon Covent Garden, a treasured place from my own youth, and the lovely Floral Street.
Covent Garden was originally "Convent Garden", being the walled monastery kitchen garden for the Benedictine monks of Westminster Abbey, but by the 17th century it had evolved into an actual trading area, with a dedicated flower market following in the 19th century famously managed by bustling, iconic Victorian "Flower Girls".
Romanticised in literature and film, the reality for these ladies was that they were working class pioneers of female self-employment; buying stock, making goods, selling wares, running businesses. Working days would often start at 5am and run well into the night where they would repurpose surplus flowers right there in the street to sell on to evening theatregoers as ‘tussy-mussies’ and buttonholes. Eliza did far more than a little, and the only way out was to work upwards, which many did, because nobody was coming to pluck them out of the market and drop them in to high society despite what ‘My Fair Lady’ would have us believe!
The flower market moved on in the mid-1970s, a victim of traffic congestion and access disputes in the area, but there are reminders everywhere of the legacy of the Flower Girls; barrow displays, flower tributes, and of course Floral Street, renamed in 1847 to reflect the thriving trade of the day.
Walking the same cobbled streets that these girls and ladies worked all those years ago, I was taken by the romantic notion of the sights and smells of the flower market, but moreover, was struck with gratitude and awe at their grit, savvy and ethic. A trip down memory lane, and an emboldening visit for the present day.
Flowers this week will bring a colourful spring posey with ranunculus, delphinium and the beautifully scented ginestra.
Have a lovely week and as always, “Bringing the Outdoors In”.