A Small United Nations: Golborne Road by Hermione Cameron

Golborne Road has its soul intact. It's a raffish gem of a street with quirky, individual shops and a community feel. On a hot summer's day, you feel as if you are in the vibrant back streets of a Mediterranean port like Marseilles. “It should be called 'Golborne Souk', really," says Warris Vianni who has been in Golborne Road for 10 years. His fabrics are light and airy silks in kaleidoscopic colours, sourced from all over the world. "This is a local community. It doesn't promote itself. It just carries on in its own delightfully wayward way."

On Fridays and Saturdays the road is full of visitors to the market. The fresh fruit and veg stalls are joined by the traders with colourful curios, bric-a-brac, photographs, books and clothes. You can buy anything from £5 to £ 15,000 on the street, according to Tony Richardson who runs Arbon Interiors at 80 Golborne Road. "And it's one of the few streets where you can get services such as having your TV repaired."

Antique shops Mac's, Bazar and Eighty-Eight, have been here for years, selling opulent gilded mirrors, dramatic fireplaces and elegant lamps. There are new shops, too. J&M Davidson have opened their new gallery here (to accompany their fashion emporium on Ledbury Road) and Stella McCartney has her new studio on the site of the old Golborne Road Free Church. Jacqueline Skott, of Kell Skott Hair Care says new businesses are choosing to come because "the road is nice and relaxed and unpretentious."

Aria Kovatzis sells an array of Japanese items including vintage silk wedding Kimonos and modern cotton designs, at Asahi. Jimi Hendrix used to jam here and Aria is selling a vast sofa of his that you can arrange to see. She enjoys the fact that "Golborne is a small United Nations." With a thriving community of Portuguese, Spanish and North African cultures, Adam Shyre and Zak at Fez, agree: "Here you'll see Jose, Juan, Shahid, Jamal and Maria ... Everyone getting on really well together."

Jane Bourvis specialises in vintage and handmade clothes and jewellery. As we talked, she was stitching a dove-grey, lavender gown with grey sequins, for a ball later this month. "We moved to Golborne Road because I found a property that I loved, with just the right feel, right in the heart of a community of genuine craftspeople." Her beautiful, feminine gowns and floaty designs have been worn by Nicole Kidman, Sarah Jessica Parker and Anna Friel. She even supplied the dress for the last episode of Sex in the City.

Golborne Road is not short of delicious eateries either. Lisboa, the Portuguese cafe and deli, is a Golborne institution.

Students, actors, musicians and whole families will queue round the block if they have to, in order to take home feather-light pastries and home-baked cakes. Just opposite, La Poissonerie du Pecheur makes the most of the excellent range of fish and seafood at the Golborne Fisheries.

As if to confirm its individuality, Golborne Road has its very own Number 10, a bar and restaurant with more than a touch of Twin Peaks about it, where you can listen to new bands and sample the cocktails. Rib-eye steak is a favourite at The Grove, next door, where you can relax, sinking into their retro 60s leather sofas, under Venetian mirrors. One of the best reasons to cross the bridge is to visit Gillian and Richard Fuchs at 'Hot & Cold', just under the Trellick Tower.

They have been selling top-of-the range kitchen appliances, at amazing prices, for 27 years. Gillian, a trained artist, loves watching the comings and goings on the Golborne Road. "You'll still see the totters, like the rag-and-bone men, out collecting bric-a-brac to sell," she says, "and then you'll see the old boys twitter like birds on the street, outside the cafes." With so much going on, Golborne Road is certainly well worth a visit.

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