I watched Camden burn on Saturday night. I was smoking shisha with nimuwe in a café on the west side of Camden High Street, when the air suddenly became thicker with smoke which smelled of wood instead of apple or cherry. The market was on fire, and it quickly spread to engulf most of the east side of the high street.

Despite becoming something of a tourist trap, Camden remains a genuinely unique part of London. Many of my favourite shops and market stalls were destroyed by the blaze and hundreds of people have lost their livelihoods as a result. It’s a great shame, and I really hope that when the market is rebuilt the original character is maintained as far as possible, and the fire is not used as an excuse to gentrify the area, as has happened in so many places of cultural importance. There is now a Gap on the corner of the Haight Ashbury intersection; I dread the thought of Camden High Street becoming the preserve of Top Shop and Tommy Hilfiger.