Ali Rawlings had been selling her gluten and egg-free cakes at Chatsworth Road market, but soon realised that she could sell them directly from her canal boat
“When I first moved onto the houseboat, I had one of those ‘eureka’ moments.
My stuff was all over the place on the boat, and at the time I had the market stall and I was borrowing a kitchen to bake my cakes.
But then I realised it made much more sense to have a hatch on the side of the boat and sell my cakes from there instead.
I got my trader’s license in April last year and started trading by May. I had to get the environmental regulations and public liability insurance so it’s just the same as running any other kind of business.
I met other people doing similar things, like the woman who runs the barge selling sandwiches and she was really helpful.
She helped me to get started by giving me tips like where to moor. Once I was up and running, I obviously got to meet the book barge and the vintage clothes boats, now we’re trying to operate more as a floating market about 10 boats, four of which sell food.
Others sell goods and handicrafts, there are boats selling hats, woodwork, books and vintage clothes.
You get competitive sometimes and we try not to sell the same as somebody else. I started experimenting with gluten-free cakes because I had a problem with eating wheat and it helped me with getting the regulations and the environmental regulations because I don’t have any refrigeration on the boat.
Instead of eggs, I use flaxseed and I just use rice flour or a blend of different flours that don’t involve wheat.
I think the gingerbread is the top seller all the year round, Christmas puds and Christmas cakes at Christmas time.
I make little loaf cakes, I make banana and chocolate and apple cinnamon and walnut and the cupcakes sell really well as well. I had some f**k it valentine’s cakes that sold quite well.
What I sell depends a lot on the weather at the time: when it starts getting cold I’ll sell hot soup and stuff like that, hot mulled apple juice just depending on the season and what’s available.
When I can I go to Farmer’s Markets and things and use local produce or go up the river Lea to pick the apples which I did last year to make chutney. I just positioned the boat under the tree and nicked the apples.
I have a continuous cruising licence which means that we have to move every two weeks, I’ll be at the Angel for two weeks at a time and can return three months later. It’s a much more relaxing way of living really.
And the community’s really good as well because I’ve never had the sense of community that you have on the water.
If you’re in trouble then you can always ask your neighbour who will help out. People talk to each other. It’s quite amazing really!
I’ve got a Facebook page and I can keep that up to date with my phone so I can just moor up somewhere and send a message out saying where I am.
Because the weather’s so cold right now I’m not trading. I’m hoping to be back by Easter. We tried a floating market at Christmas at the Angel and it wasn’t a success because people don’t tend to go on the towpath when the weather’s cold.
I think it’s a summer business really but it’s all trial-and-error because it’s all new.
We’re going to try and launch the whole season down at Springfield, just down from Hackney Marshes. We’re calling it Mayday at the Marshes!
