A windy trip to Borough Market at Christmas brings together three things for a festive weekend at home: Vacherin Mont d’Or, bread from Bread Ahead and a partridge from The Ginger Pig. This Roberts London archive film was published on 6 December 2015, capturing the market’s December crowds and a food shopping trip beneath The Shard.
The plan is simple: find the cheese, pick up bread to dip into it and choose something for lunch. As often happens in a daily vlog, the evening takes a different turn.
Arriving at Borough Market in December
The journey starts on the train, followed by a blustery arrival near London Bridge. Outside, the wind makes filming awkward. Under the market roof, the atmosphere changes: shoppers fill the aisles, wreaths hang overhead and the stalls are dressed for Christmas.
It is a short visit with a particular shopping list, rather than an attempt to cover every corner of the market. The footage still leaves room for the setting: green ironwork, glass roofs, crowded passageways and the entrance with The Shard behind it.
Finding Vacherin Mont d’Or
The first cheese stop does not have what Barry is looking for, but the search soon succeeds. He chooses an 800g Mont d’Or in its wooden box. The trader asks when he intends to eat it, so the cheese can be chosen with that timing in mind.
The original description calls it Vacherin; in the film, Barry also refers to it as Mont d’Or. It is the centrepiece of the planned evening meal, with bread for dipping once the cheese is warmed.
Bread Ahead and The Ginger Pig
At Bread Ahead, two breads join the shopping bag. Barry names a raisin sourdough, while the camera moves across the loaves and the busy counter. The bread has a clear job to do later: accompany the cheese.
The game on display prompts another purchase. Barry considers pheasant, then chooses a smaller partridge from The Ginger Pig for lunch. With cheese, bread and the bird bought, the shopping is complete.
Back towards London Bridge
There is no street-food stop on this visit. With a busy day ahead and lunch in the bag, Barry heads back towards the station, pausing for another look up at The Shard. The camera catches its sharply rising glass exterior against the grey sky.
Unpacking the festive food haul
Back home, the purchases come out of their wrapping. The partridge is already wrapped in bacon, and Barry sets out his plan to serve it with roast potatoes. The boxed cheese and the two breads are intended for a relaxed evening in.
The film includes a discussion of warming the cheese, but the finished cheese supper does not appear in this episode. It is a useful little distinction in the story: the shopping is done, while that meal is still ahead.
Roast partridge for lunch, cheese saved for tomorrow
Lunch does make it to the camera. Barry holds up the roast partridge with potatoes and mentions English mustard to go alongside it. The final update comes later, outdoors after a change of evening plans: a few drinks have pushed the Mont d’Or supper back until the following day.
That change of plan gives this Christmas archive its everyday character. A festive market trip becomes a good lunch, a bag of bread and cheese, and one more meal to look forward to.
Watch the Borough Market Christmas vlog
Archive note: this film was originally published on 6 December 2015. The article records that visit; stall displays and the day’s purchases belong to the 2015 footage.
