17/12/16: Back Into the System (R.F.F.R.)

RFFR, North Finchley. Was tempted by Julie London (who wouldn't be?), but ended up buying a Carly Simon CD called Film Noir. Mike Peters' Back Into the System was signed by the former star of The Alarm himself. The gold writing looks like it says: "To Rennie with respect Mike Peters". Clearly the respect wasn't mutual.

03/12/16: I Love Rock 'n' Roll (All Aboard)

All Aboard, North Finchley. I very nearly bought this copy of I Love Rock 'n' Roll by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, but the pages of the booklet were stuck together. Instead, I bought The Visitors by Abba on CD – a masterful album – for £1.

03/09/16: Dylan (Barnardo's)

Barnardo's, Whetstone. You don't often see Bob Dylan CDs in charity shops, but here were four of his albums, alongside Chris Rea, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits and The Faces.

20/08/16: "Lovely gentlemen" (MS)

Woman at the till in MS: Multiple Sclerosis Society, East Barnet, upon seeing myself and four other men browsing in her shop:

"My goodness! All these lovely gentlemen! Close the door! I don't often get this many men in the room at once..."

13/08/16: Jar Jar Binks (Barnardo's)

Barnardo's, Whetstone. Everyone's least favourite Star Wars character finds himself alongside the Mon Calamari Rebel commander Admiral Ackbar and some other, lesser figurines.

11/08/16: Dogs Trust

Dogs Trust, Whetstone. Very excited to see a new charity shop opening in Whetstone. Slightly bothered by the lack of an apostrophe in its name, though: shouldn't it be Dogs' Trust? Otherwise, it means "dogs do trust" – which, obviously, some do (and maybe if they were less trusting of humans they wouldn't need charities to protect them).

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...

16/07/16: The Green Room – "A New type of charity shop"

A new charity shop has opened in the Grand Arcade at Tally Ho Corner in North Finchley. Calling itself "A New type of charity shop", the Green Room is housed within the former Haircode and promises coins, curios, costume and jewellery. I looked at the books and CDs. There was no sign yet of the "unique seasonal gifts".

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

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

26/06/16: Sinister dolly (Barnardo's)

Barnardo's, Whetstone. Don't look into her eyes.

18/06/16: 3 X Wrought Iron Gates (MS: Multiple Sclerosis Society)

Sign outside MS: Multiple Sclerosis Society in East Barnet. The "Rocking Chair & Stool" had sold, but the "Stero system & Speakers" were still available.

11/06/16: Row of CDs (Cancer Research)

Cancer Research, East Barnet. I love to peruse a row of CDs and this one did not let me down. An interesting mixture of Britpop, 70s rock and punk – at £2 a go – including:
• Catatonia – Equally Cursed and Blessed
• Goldfrapp – Seventh Tree
• Various artists – Northern Soul Memories
• Manic Street Preachers – Everything Must Go
• Suede – Sci-fi Lullabies
• Led Zeppelin – Early Days
• Morrissey – You Are the Quarry
• ACDC – Live
• The Who – Songs from Quadrophenia
• Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
• PiL – The Greatest Hits So Far
• Banarama – The Very Best Of
• Various artists – The Very Best of Power Ballads

• Various artists – Party Starter: The 15 Tunes That Rocked 2001

• Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms

• Blur – Blur

• Radiohead – The Bends

29/05/16: Beatles book bonanza (Barnardo's)

Barnardo's, Whetstone. Eight Beatles books, plus tomes on Amy Winehouse and Keith Moon.

28/05/16: New shop (MS: Multiple Sclerosis Society)

MS: Multiple Sclerosis Society, East Barnet. The old MS closed down. Pleased to see that this has opened just around the corner. A friendly blackboard outside the door states "Thank you E Barnet for your great support".

14/05/16: Shimmering shirt (North London Hospice)

The refurbished North London Hospice reopened in Whetstone. I bought a shimmering shirt to celebrate. Too shimmery to photograph.

16/04/16: Anne and Evelyn (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, North Finchley. Bargain books. Anne Tyler's A Spool of Blue Thread was shortlisted for the 2015 Booker Prize. Evelyn Waugh's Scoop is a 1938 classic comedy-satire about a newspaper journalist. I read it in the late 1980s/early 1990s and would like to read it again soon.

10/04/16: Glamour Babe wig (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, Whetstone. "Glamour Babe" wig: £3.50. That's 49p cheaper than the "Beatnik" wig on sale in Swanage. I did not buy either.

10/04/16: Dark Side of the Moon mug (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, Whetstone. Dark Side of the Moon mug, 75p. Can't really go wrong. As one Amazon reviewer puts it, 'tea and coffee actually taste better out of this mug!"

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.

06/03/16: Manly Moustaches (All Aboard)

All Aboard, North Finchley. For 50p, you can transform yourself into ALL of the following:
The Biker
The Banker (my favourite)
The Wise Guy
The Snob
The Casanova
The Villain

06/03/16: Dolly, vase, tiger (All Aboard)

All Aboard, North Finchley. Dolly peers out from vase. Tiger looks on. Dolly has nice jumper, but scarily small hands.

06/03/16: Carol (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, North Finchley. Today saw my first visit to this new branch (they have moved down the road a bit). Recently saw the film Carol starring Cate Blanchett and am intrigued to read the 1952 Patricia Highsmith "lesfic" classic it was based on.

28/02/16: Galsworthy (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, Whetstone. This three-volume Forsythe Saga tempted me for a few seconds, but I have heard that it's a somewhat turgid read. Jaws, meanwhile, races along. The latter could once be seen in every charity shop in Britain. These days, however, copies are rather scarce.

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.

14/02/16: Mask (Barnardo's)

Barnardo's, Whetstone. This creepy mask (£1.49) was described on the label as "Endless fun!" That's not quite the same thing as "Serious fun!" (see HERE for details). I did not buy it, but I did buy a hardback book – Play On: Now, Then and Fleetwood Mac: The Autobiography by Mick Fleetwood with Anthony Bozza. The man at the till told me that Mick is a great drummer, a great backing singer and the one who binds Fleetwood Mac together.

30/01/16: Presence (Barnardo’s)

Barnardo’s, Whetstone. Presence by Led Zeppelin – their classic seventh album, from 1976. I have always enjoyed the deliberately banal cover design by Hipgnosis. The young fan shown here cannot decide whether her favourite track is "Achilles Last Stand" or "Hots On for Nowhere".

30/01/16: How to Make Your Husband a Sultan (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, Whetstone. For just £1, I purchased Özel Türkbaş's How to Make Your Husband a Sultan. This is a classic album of bellydancing music. The booklet even includes instructions. Somebody is tempted to have a go...

16/12/15: Classics are "in" (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, North Finchley.

16/12/15: Classics are "in" (Barnardo's)

Barnardo's, Whetstone.

14/11/15: Bright Eyes (Barnardo's)

Barnardo's, Whetstone. I enjoyed the neat serendipity of the Bright Eyes CD sitting next to The Art Garfunkel Album. Older readers will know why.

14/11/15: Glut of Dan Brown (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, Whetstone. No shortage of Dan Browns and Gone Girls.

30/10/15: Shiny & stylish adult bunny set (Age UK)

Age UK, Swanage. If you weren’t tempted by the “beatnik wig”, maybe this “shiny & stylish adult bunny set” is more your kind of thing.

30/10/15: Beatnik wig (Age UK)

Age UK, Swanage. Formerly £9.99, now £3.99, this wig is both "unisex" and "beatnik".

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.

04/10/15: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, Whetstone. This 2013 Booker Prize winner was in (nearly) mint condition and only £1 – cheaper than many of the mangled paperbacks on offer. Should I take his as a warning that it's an unreadable disaster? It has 74 one-star reviews on Amazon, of which this one is typical: "A dreadful mess. A dreadfully long mess. A complex plot, delivered in a confusing way. Twelve sections of ever-decreasing length, with ever-shortening chapters with ever-lengthening preambles. Twelve characters representing (I assume) different signs of the zodiac, but all devoid of emotion. I failed to identify with any of them, and indeed most of them seemed indistinguishable except by name and profession. Their personalities lacked depth and I got no sense that the writer had any sensitivity or understanding of them – certainly if she did, she failed to convey it. How this got shortlisted for the Man-Booker prize is beyond me. It is simply not a good read. Brevity in writing is a virtue. 832 pages is a chore."

19/09/15: Star Wars jigsaws / family of gnomes (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, North Finchley. Slightly tempted by the original Star Wars jigsaws – particularly "Inside the Millennium Falcon" – although they seemed pricey at £5. Rather less tempted by the gnomes – "sold as family £20". Instead, I bought a bargain CD – Animals by Pink Floyd for only 75p:

06/09/15: Cher (Cancer Research)

Cancer Research, North Finchley. I was very tempted by this Cher T-shirt, except for the fact that it is sized XL. Price was £4.50.

06/09/15: Spiders (All Aboard)

All Aboard, North Finchley. Spiders is a 1996 album by Liverpudlians Space. For some reason there were four copies of this on the shelf. Also unwanted: Atomic Kitten, Five, David Gray and Madonna.

30/08/15: Kiss guitar (Weldmar Hospicecare Trust Caring for Dorset)

Weldmar Hospicecare Trust, caring for Dorset, Swanage. This is an axe-shaped guitar with Kiss heads at one end. It was very heavy, in every sense of the word.

16/08/15: "Due to a water leak..." (Barnado's)

Barnardo's, Whetstone.

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.

29/07/15: Jumping Jack Flash (Age UK)

Age UK, Swanage. "Jumping Jack Flash" on the radio. Not much else going on.

29/07/15: Catsuit (Weldmar Hospicecare Trust Caring for Dorset)

Weldmar Hospicecare Trust Caring for Dorset, Swanage. Inside: a poor book selection and a £3.50 Eagles T-shirt that did not detain me for long. Outside: a brown, plastic caveman club, a pink wig and a catsuit – "adults medium" – priced at £15.

29/07/15: Sorry – we are NOT taking part in the window competition (Oxfam)

Oxfam, Swanage. There was a strange beeping noise coming from the direction of the till, almost – but not – in time with the music on the radio. It was quite enjoyable – for a while. Nearly bought a huge novel (The Count of Monte Cristo), but didn't want to have to carry it around Swanage with me all day and then heave it all the way back to London.

20/06/15: No Angel (North London Hospice)

North London Hospice, Whetstone. CDs included Saint Etienne, Boo Radleys, Echobelly, a slightly tempting Bryan Ferry bootleg, plus two copies of the obligatory No Angel by Dido. In the book section, the signed copy of Nick Rhodes' polaroids anthology from 1984 had been sold. I should have bought it and sold it on eBay.

20/06/15: Down the Road (Barnardo's)

Barnardo's, Whetstone. Purchased Down the Road by Van Morrison from a selection of CDs that also included: Katy Perry, Funky Divas: The Autumn Collection, Armand Van Helden, Ray Lamontagne, Rihanna, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Regina Spektor, Lauren Hill (x2), John Denver, Pet Shop Boys, The Pogues, Diana Ross, The Style Council, Dean Martin, Usher and Elaine Paige & Barbara Dickson.