Friday stroll: Lower Marsh SE1

I live just down from a street called Lower Marsh. Along this stretch of tarmac is a quirky collection of mismatched shops. All the idiosyncratic orphans of the retail world have congregated here, and really I wouldn't have it any other way.

Naturally, upcycling examples abound. A recent arrival to the street is the Shared Earth charity shop, where an inverted papasan chair makes a clothes hanger. When I asked to take a photo, the shopkeeper - completely unprompted - said, "Well, I do like finding things on the street..." Awesome.

At vintage shop What the Butler Wore, a redundant dummy's better half invites a closer look. Taking a break from the arduous job of modelling fashion, it's now engaged in the lofty task of flyer distribution. Fortunately, someone had the good sense to dress it appropriately for the occasion.

Next door is Scooterworks, where you can pick up spare parts for your ride, drink a Peroni and admire all manner of clapped-out objects enjoying the autumn stages of their lives. An old Vespa is the window display while musical ephemera poses as wallpaper. The whole place is casually devoted to extraordinary examples upcycling. They take their coffee seriously too, with a restored original 3 group Faema coffee machine built in Milan in 1957 churning out the black stuff Italian style. So drink up!