04/03/20: More American Pie (British Red Cross)

British Heart Foundation, West Kensington. Copies of American Pie are not selling. They are accumulating.

09/01/20: American Pie (British Red Cross)

British Red Cross, West Kensington. Anyone need a copy of American Pie?

05/09/19: DVDs (British Red Cross)

Couldn't resist playing "pairs" in British Red Cross, West Kensington. Romeo + Juliet meets Gnomeo & Juliet. Bridget Jones meets herself several times.

17/11/18: Elvis Presley DVDs (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, Whetstone.

26/08/17: The Sound of Music and Big Wednesday DVDs (Cancer Research)

Cancer Research, North Finchley. The Sound of Music (1965) and Big Wednesday (1978) were a pound each and between them provided almost five hours of solid entertainment. One is about a nun-turned-governess in Austria. The other is about three friends who go surfing and slowly grow up as the world around them changes. The shadow of war (WWII and Vietnam) hangs over both stories, but that's about all they had in common.

29/07/17: Charity shop hop, Finchley Central

1. North London Hospice. Bought All is Lost DVD, still shrink-wrapped, for £1. This is a tremendous film starring Robert Redford about a man whose boat sinks. Basically: Gravity at sea.

2. Cats Protection League. Joan Baez – "Silver Dagger" 7" EP was £1.99. Tempted, but didn't buy. Also on the shelves: several Duran Duran CDs.

3. Cancer Research. Several Primal Scream CDs, plus an entire shelf of guitar tutorial CDs. There was a man sneezing a bit too close to me, so I didn't hang around.

4. Sue Ryder. Seriously overpriced. A Shirley Bassey vinyl compilation was £3.50. A water-damaged paperback was £2. No, thanks.

5. All Aboard. Tiny selection of CDs virtually hidden behind the till, making for awkward browsing.

6. Oxfam – small shop, overpriced vinyl. Weary by this point. Headed back to the car in the rain.

29/07/17: Charity shop hop, North Finchley

1. The Bothy – saw a white-label record with a message written on the sleeve: "To Steve, Thought this would be a good first record. Good luck, Sam." But what's on the record? Nearly bought the Substance CD by Joy Division. Not sure why I didn't, actually.

2. Cancer Research was closed, even though the list on the door said it should have been open for an hour already.

3. All Aboard. Plenty of DVDs. "Two books for 50p" special offer still running, but couldn't find two I wanted. Or even one. Nearly bought £1 vinyl copies of Commoners Crown by Steeleye Span and Johnny Cash and His Woman, but they were both too beaten up.

4. North London Hospice. Nearly bought CDs by the Sex Pistols (NMTB), Queen (Greatest Hits) and Talking Heads (Stop Making Sense), but again the condition wasn't quite good enough. Various Anne McCaffrey fantasy novels on the crowded bookshelves.

5. RFFR. Bought three vinyl LPs for £1 each:
• Many a Mile by Buffy Sainte-Marie (1965).
• Back Home Again by John Denver (1974).
• Songs of the British Isles by Nana Mouskouri (1976; one of 200-plus albums Nana released).

05/03/17: Dirty Dancing (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, Whetstone.

08/01/17: Beach Boys/Simon & Garfunkel/Wolf of Wall Street (Cancer Research)

Cancer Research, Finchley Central. For one pound each I bought the Beach Boys' Surf's Up and Holland, Simon & Garfunkel's The Concert in Central Park and the DVD of The Wolf of Wall Street.

I asked my little helper to select one album to play first. Holland was the preferred choice.

Even a wolf needs to sleep sometimes.

31/07/15: Judith/Now & Then/Scrooged/Sundown (All Aboard)

In All Aboard, Chipping Barnet, I bought a Gordon Lightfoot LP (Sundown), a triple-gatefold-sleeve Carpenters album (Now & Then), a Judy Collins record (Judith) and a DVD of the Bill Murray film Scrooged:

Fittingly, they had Neil Powell's book Amis & Son: Two Literary Generations next to books by Kingsley (The Anti-Death League) and Martin Amis (Yellow Dog):

They weren't taking good care of their vinyl...

09/07/16: Dangers of the deep (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, Whetstone. Something of a theme here...

06/03/16: Before Sunrise/set (All Aboard)

All Aboard, North Finchley. Didn’t buy the dolly or the moustaches, but I did buy two DVDs. Before Sunrise is a 1995 film directed by Richard Linklater. The plot deals with the chance meeting of Jesse and Céline – and what happens next. Before Sunset is the 2004 sequel. I found both in a boxed set for just £1. A third film (2013's Before Midnight) was not included, but you can't have everything.

Also bought a cheery rubber phone case for 50p.

21/02/16: Easy Rider (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, Whetstone. The iconic 1969 road movie starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson. The above viewer's favourite song on the soundtrack is "Born to be Wild" by Steppenwolf. Mine is "Wasn't Born to Follow" by The Byrds.

10/10/15: Wanderlust (Barnardo's)

Barnardo's, Whetstone. Always worth a look at the DVD shelf. Was tempted by The Rutles and Scott Walker 30 Century Man, although not tempted enough to spend £1.99 in either case. Of the others shown here, I have previously enjoyed watching GoodFellas, Prometheus, Skyfall and Almost Famous. The least tempting disc by some distance was Wanderlust, whose oxymoronic description as "a comedy starring Jennifer Aniston" is enough to send a shudder right through me.

02/08/15: Philomena (Norwood)

Norwood, Golder's Green. The sign said "All single DVDs £1". There was a stack of still-shrinkwrapped Philomena DVDs. I fancied seeing this thought-provoking Dench-meets-Coogan drama, so I took one of them to the till. The lady there was speaking on the phone, distracted. She said "Two pounds." I pointed out the sign and she replied "No, these came in yesterday", as if that proved something. This irked me, so I left sans disc.

11/04/15: Harry Styles / American Hustle (Barnardo's)

Barnardo's, Whetstone. The One Direction dolly was at a slight lean. He looks like a middle-aged farmer. Saw American Hustle at the cinema on the first day of 2014. One of the 10 or so best films ever. If you like the novels of Elmore Leonard, you will almost certainly enjoy this. It is a very neatly plotted thriller with a couple of con-artists and an FBI agent trying to out-con one another, and the emerging love triangle that complicates this further. The lead actors – Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence – are so good that they are a joy to watch. There's not a single scene or line that doesn't move the plot forwards or deepen the characters. It's funny, too. Several of the people involved (the director and three actors) also made The Silver Linings Playbook. These people know what they are doing. And who can forget the "Live and Let Die" moment?

22/03/15: Thelma & Louise (British Heart Foundation)

British Heart Foundation, North Finchley. Having never seen this modern(-ish) classic, I was more than happy to spend 99p to find out if it's as good as everyone says.

08/03/15: Casino (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, Whetstone. I noticed this film previously next door in Barnardo's. This time, I couldn't resist. And nor can someone else, by the looks of it.

22/02/15: Casino (Barnardo's)

Barnardo's, Whetstone. After enjoying GoodFellas, I was tempted by this (sort-of) follow-up Scorsese film, but not tempted enough to buy it. Is it worth seeing?

08/02/15: GoodFellas (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, Whetstone. “Never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut.” DVD of the Martin Scorsese film from 1990. Saw it on TV many years ago and recall it being quite impressive.