London is a city of iconic markets, from East London’s traditional fish market at Billingsgate to the millennium-old Borough Market in Southwark, which sells every ingredient, spice, herb, vegetable and meat under the sun. There’s no shortage of brilliant places to find what you need, whether it be exotic food, the latest and greatest fashions, vintage furniture, or anything in between.

Our trip was on a Thursday, Spitalfields’ market day, so Inglans had an opportunity to see the stark, but artfully seamless, contrast of old and new to be found in East London.

We played with vintage toys that were the pride and joy of children who have now become adults, and the elderly; and tried on clothes from every era spanning the neat, understated, and elegant fashions of post-war Britain to the flowing hippy styles of the 1960s, and everything in between.

At Ingla we want our students to immerse themselves in the best that British, and London, culture has to offer so we recently had a school trip to the world-famous, upmarket Spitalfields, a classic shopping centre with a youthful, hipster twist. It’s just opposite Liverpool Street Station, too, so it’s right in the heart of the city, amid the hustle and bustle of the madding crowd.

We came into the Spitalfields market as a group, awed by the towering iron arches of the structure, but quickly broke off into small packs to cover as much ground as possible We rummaged through treasure troves of antique jewellery, memories of a bygone era, but still sparkling and bright;

We wandered far and wide, and our students practised speaking English with vendors from London and across the globe. This, despite all the gorgeous wares on offer, was the real highlight of the day: watching our students expand their vocabulary and horizons while experiencing a real slice of London life.