Stourport-on-Severn

Sundown over the basin, by suesviews. Image used under Creative Commons, click pic for link.

There are plenty of places around this part of the world that might describe themselves as canal towns (Stourbridge, Wolverhampton, Birmingham), but not even Birmingham (more miles of canal than Venice, don’t you know) can equal Stourport’s complete connection to the canal system. Prior to 1772, when James Brindley completed the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal from Stafford, through Wolverhampton, Stourbridge and Kidderminster to the River Severn, this part of the world was occupied by the small villages of Upper and Lower Mitton, on the banks of the Severn and the Stour. Then the industrial revolution hit them in full and a full-fledged industrial town grew up around the junction of river and canal, henceforward Stourport-on-Severn, one of the great legacies of the canal age. 

These days, not surprisingly, Stourport is not a thriving hub of industry. No longer will you find tanning yards, vinegar works, iron foundries or carpet factories lining the towpaths or the basins. But you’ll find plenty of evidence for these enterprises – the vinegar works are now converted, the huge canal basins are now home to hordes of holidaying boatpeople (the town is the hub of the Stourport Ring, a hugely popular route taking in some of the country’s finest industrial heritage), and the streets and paths are lined with classic Worcestershire red-brick houses from the time of the town’s initial growth, with huge machinery and converted warehouses and factories.

The town is located just a short distance from Kidderminster, so if you’re like me and a geek for this sort of thing, you can walk quite easily along the towpath, or indeed along the Severn Way from Bewdley. The most obvious reference point in the town is the bridge over the Severn – it’s hard to miss, not just because it’s the only bridge for miles but because of a noisy, light-flashing permanent funfair next to it. Actually, there’s plenty of space for kids to get over-excited here, as there’s a huge playground and park opposite – beware if you’re visiting in monsoon season though – you’ll find it pretty much underwater (though not quite as bad as some). Walking up into town you’ll pass several pubs (a large ‘spoons is a preferred stop-off here) and fish’n'chip shops, and pass Engine Lane – here’s a cut through to the marina complex, as it is now, replete with moorings, chandlery and plenty of boats to gawp at. Stourport is the furthest point an oceangoing boat can trek inland on the Severn, so there’ll be a variety of gaily-painted narrowboats, large cabin cruisers, and everything in between. Continuing up Bridge Street brings you to a mini-roundabout, the start of the High Street proper, and the first of our charity shops. On your right is a slightly esoteric non-charity-specific shop (so far as I can tell), which ranges from vintage cameras and hardbacks, to some randomly stacked stuff – there’s not really another word for it. Another charity shop with a distinctive odour this; perhaps it’s to do with the propensity of the proprietor to wander round in bare feet.

Opposite is a more normal (comparatively) charity shop, Shaw Trust (although my notes say “shaw trust mental”, my memory fails me as to why). Passing up the street, you’ll notice a distinct change in the type of shops. Lower down, by the river, the day-trip market is well catered-for, with the funfair, the park, the chippies, the souvenir shops selling inland equivalents of a kiss-me-quick hat. Above the junction with York Street you’ll find game butchers, florists, outdoor shops for the nearby Abberley hills, and the like. That’s not to say Stourport is elegant and sophisticated exactly: it exudes a sort of chippy charm throughout, certainly more than the slightly bleak-looking Streetview suggests. The charity shops on this stretch are a pretty good bunch, all quite sizable and worth a poke at. There’s a St Richard’s Hospice, Oxfam and British Red Cross up here.

Continue up Lombard Street for the remaining charity shops. Small RSPCA and Hospital League of Friends are found before you get to the large Coop supermarket; across the road is SOS Animal (another slightly creepy, slightly aromatic place. I advise you not to look too interested in any particular thing, if you’re the sort that doesn’t like getting into sales chats with the staff); around the corner are two Kemp Hospice shops, one of which is a furniture and electricals shop, although it seems like you have to view the products through the window, then go and ask in the other shop to have a look.

That’s a pretty good haul. We’ve returned with numerous bargains from Stourport, and it’s definitely a town worth visiting as well as shopping in. I’d mark it down for the awkwardness in getting to without a car; but I’ll mark it back up because you can get there via narrowboat, which is always a winner. Absolutely worth a stop off and explore.

Find: Stourport-on-Severn@ Google Maps
Get there: if you don’t have a boat, then it’ll need to be a bus – you can get these from all around Worcestershire, and there are limited-stop routes from Redditch, Worcester and Kiddy.
Consume with: The Olde Crown Inn (Wetherspoons) is a nice pub, but there’s plenty of caffs, takeaways and spots to eat your chips by the river.
Visit: if you’ve exhausted all the opportunities for looking at canals and rivers, how about Worcestershire County Museum – it’s not far down the road in Hartlebury Castle.
Overall rating: five world maps

Kidderminster

Kidderminster Snow, Dec 2010, by Frosted Peppercorn. Image used under Creative Commons licence, click pic for link.

Ah, Kiddy. How do I start to describe Kiddy?

Kidderminster is a near neighbour to us now, a 20 minute bus ride from the end of the road. To get there from us one travels through the understated loveliness of the South Staffs/North Worcs borders and into the ‘burbs at Broadwaters. From then on, you have to somehow negotiate a large-scale system of one-ways and ring-roads to get into the town centre, and you’re usually best off just heading into the first car park you see: I’ve been there many, many times now and still struggle to orientate myself from one end to the other. If you’re on the bus, you’ll hop off at the bus station, conveniently situated for the new Weavers Wharf development. This is the best of Kiddy, commercially-speaking. Debenhams, for example, is housed in the former Slingfield Mill, its restored chimney towering over the town centre. Nearby, the college is housed in the sympathetically restored Piano Building. You’ll find all the big name shops you could want between here and the Carpet Trades retail park over the road (Kidderminster’s trade of repute is carpets, to this day).

However, Kidderminster is very much a split-personality kind of town. Cross the bridge over the Stour into the town centre itself, and you’re faced with somewhat crumbling 1960s office edifices, an unkempt wind tunnel of a main street with a dirty market, and several Greggs. That kind of town. For all that, I view it very affectionately: just like Waltham Cross was an ugly but fruitful source of bargain shopping, I can’t help but love Kidderminster. It’s a cheap place to live as well: all the fine Victorian villas around the town are much more fiscally accessible than the same would be in, say, Bromsgrove or Stourbridge nearby. The opening of Weaver’s Wharf in 2004 was no doubt intended to spark some gentrification in the prime territory skirting the town centre; but as yet, one road off the ring road will still find you in a street roughly resembling Hamsterdam.

The pros and cons of Kidderminster as a place to live are up for debate. What’s indisputable is that this is a serious charity shop tourism destination. I’ll explain the latter part first, and this might be just me. I am a fan of canals. I’ve yet to build a model set, but it’s certainly a possibility, and Kiddy is a canal town. The Stour flows through the town to the Severn, and alongside it the Staffordshire & Worcestershire canal, offering waterborn transport to Stourport and the big river one way, and Kinver, the Birmingham canal network, Wolverhampton, Stafford and onward the other. It’s also a train town: today the Black Country express through Smethwick and Cradley Heath continues on to Kidderminster, Droitwich and Worcester, but you can also change for the Severn Valley Railway through to Bridgnorth. For those slightly in thrall to industrial architecture as I am, there’s plenty to point at in Kiddy – in fact, it could be a real selling point for the town given its distinctive history. That’s my advice to the Kidderminster tourist board, and you’re welcome.

However, for the purposes of this blog (and our repeat visits): we count sixteen charity shops. Sixteen. If this was the Final Score vide-printer, that would say 16 (sixteen)  for clarification. I think it’s a record. For the sake of completeness, they are: Oxfam; British Heart Foundation (and BHF Furniture & Electricals); British Red Cross; Sense; Forces UK (and Forces Furniture & Electricals); Marie Curie; Salvation Army; Cancer Research; Scope; Mind; Happy Staffie Rescue; Forest Dog Rescue; YMCA; and Kemp Hospice. The highlights include Kemp Hospice, at least so I’m told – we often return with considerably more fabric than when we arrived; the large furniture shops are worth a gander as well – we bought our washing machine from BHF, and have espied a great quantity of furniture that we would have purchased, if only we still had the car. We’ve ended up with bits and bobs from most of these shops though.

We have problems with Kidderminster. It’s an easy place to get to on the bus, it’s got all the shops we need etc., but we find it hard to miss out charity shops. You know, just in case. So, it’s always a hike around the SIXTEEN charity shops, and you know what – it’s brilliant. It’s a funny old place, and it could be wonderful with a bit of love. But I like it as it is.

Find: Kidderminster @ Google Maps
Get there: the 125 bus goes to Stourbridge and Bridgnorth, or there’s regular trains from Birmingham and Worcester.
Consume with: there’s the normal array of chain coffee and a pretty rough-looking ‘spoons, but I’m still intending to visit Ye Olde Seven Stars, a CAMRA recommended pub where guests are encouraged to bring their own lunch.
Visit: whilst not neglecting the legendary WM Safari Park, probably the funnest day out is going to be on the steam train.
Overall rating: five fat quarters (1 1/4 wholes?)

Matlock

Derwent Valley, Derbyshire, under creative commons by Duncan Harris. Click pic for link.

Although just outside the bounds of the Peak District national park, you won’t run short of scenery in and around Matlock. The River Derwent, which winds down from the middle of the park, through Bakewell, Matlock, Belper and Derby before meeting the Trent, has carved out an impressive path through the Derbyshire Dales, and the Matlock area is where you find some of the most dramatic parts. Maybe the best way to approach the town centre is from the South, from Belper direction – you’ll follow the Cromford Canal and the Derwent through a UNESCO World Heritage Site of mills and industrial history (I’m pretty much in love with all that at the moment, you’ll have to forgive me) and then pass into the really dramatic gorge around Matlock Bath – stop here for the Heights of Abraham with its cable car – and into Matlock town centre. If you fancy, you can walk all the way, or you can come from the opposite direction on the Peak Rail.

Matlock and its environs were a collection of unimportant villages until the discovery of thermal springs there at the close of the 17th century. With the industrial revolution just a few years after, and Victorian hydro-tourism, Matlock became the bustling county town of Derbyshire, and remains a busy rural town today. What that essentially means for our intentions is that there’s a pile of charity shops, plenty to look at, and something to eat.

If you arrive in Matlock from Cromford direction, you’ll find an Oxfam Books shop as your first charity shop on Dale Road. You’d be well advised to embrace the non-charity sector as well – although there’s one or two smartly priced antiques shops, we’ve found some excellent bargains in Second Time Around, just over the road from Oxfam, including books, blankets, maps and all sorts. Cross over the river and stop to admire the view towards Riber Castle along the Derwent and once again thank your lucky stars that you can come to such a beautiful part of the world. Chuck a penny in the oddly-coloured water of the wishing well, if you’re very grateful.

At the Crown Square roundabout you’re faced with three variably fruitful options. Turn left for the road to Bakewell, Youlgreave and into the Peaks. Along here you’ll find a handily located Wetherspoon’s for breakfast, the Railway Inn for other liquid refreshment (sadly, they seem not to do the breakfasts any more that we enjoyed on our first visit, watching England embarrass themselves in the Rugby World Cup over a plate of sausage and egg), and the slightly odd, crammed-full Lighthouse charity shop. There’s plenty of bargains in here including small electricals, if you can negotiate the over-stuffed room and inconveniently-placed staff.

Go straight up the hill from the bridge, on Bank Road, and you’ll find the majority of Matlock’s civic or historic buildings; importantly, you’ll also find Save The Children, British Red Cross and AgeUK, although you may not find much in them. Alternatively, right onto Causeway Lane will take you along the parks by the river and just round the corner to Firs Parade, home to Mind, Sue Ryder and British Heart Foundation. So that’s a fair haul of eight charity shops in a little town which happens to be one of the prettiest I know. As you can see, I’m in a generous mood, but I’ve no doubt we’ll be returning to Matlock any and every time we’re in the area.

Find: Matlock @ Google Maps
Get there: you’ve many options – walk the Derwent Valley Heritage Trail, catch the Peak Rail steam train, or get the normal train from Derby.
Consume with: I would have said breakfast at the Railway, but there’s plenty of other options, including the ‘spoons.
Visit: plenty round here! Masson Mills, Heights of Abraham, Riber Castle…
Overall rating: five china face dolls

Stourbridge

Arches by Nickster 2000, used under a Creative Commons license. Click pic for link.

Today, you’ll find Stourbridge as the westernmost compass point of a sprawling West Midlands conurbation, butting right up against some glorious Staffordshire/Worcestershire/Shropshire countryside. But it wasn’t always so: the Black Country isn’t like London with its endless 1930′s ribbon developments radiating out from the centre; rather, each town is a definable centre, each with a purpose (at least, orginally). Cradley is called the home of chain-making, Walsall’s famous for its leather trade, Wolverhampton for its steel. Stourbridge is no different and became, particularly during the nineteenth century, a world centre for the glass industry after significant Huguenot in-migration. The twenty-first century is a very different era and the Black Country is becoming a post-industrial society – though certainly not out of choice. Stourbridge retains an artisan-led glass quarter (around Kingswinford and Amblecote), but today finds itself as much a dormitory town for Birmingham, just the other side of the M5.

Stourbridge holds a particularly happy place in this blogger’s heart, however: it’s where he and his Charity Shop Partner (slash wife) have just moved, so chances are you’ll be hearing plenty more from the West Midlands and its environs over the next few months. Its location right on the edge of the countryside makes it a very appealing place to live – as accessible for the urban delights of Birmingham as for the craggy heights of Shropshire or the Malverns. If we fancy a breath of fresh air these days, we don’t have to drive to a gloomy Essex coast or wander through a crowded Epping Forest: we can ascend the overlooking Clent Hills and have our breath removed by a view spanning to Wales or the Cotswolds.

But that’s enough about me – more importantly, this is a charity shop shopping blog and has its priorities. Happily, Stourbridge punches pretty well. In a less touchy-feely era of civic government than our own, a Nascar styled ring road (see below) was built around the town centre and it’s within the ring road that you’ll find the bulk of the town’s shops. Note though – there are other charity shops scattered around, notably a couple in Wollaston that I may or may not touch on another time. Within the pretty attractive town centre I count a good nine charity shops as well as various other amenities and local shops. You wouldn’t come to Stourbridge for a day’s shopping experience any more, as you wouldn’t go to Dudley, Brierley Hill, Halesowen, or any other community within the catchment area of the monolithic Merry Hill centre, so be warned of that.

There’s a stretch of charity shops on the High Street including a pretty sweet and not-too-expensive Oxfam: we located a pile of cheap Jo Nesbo books and, happily, three Granta magazines for £1.50, which are now populating the landing bookcase. Having brokenheartedly sold several hundred books in the move, we now appear to be doing our best to counteract that. There’s also Barnardos, Marie Curie, Acorn’s Hospice and British Heart Foundation, and best of all the huge Mary Stevens Hospice Shop, fundraising for the hospice which is located in Stourbridge itself. There’s a second huge Mary Stevens shops in Victoria Passage, a sneaky cut also containing cafs, restaurants and little boutiquey shops. This Mary Stevens, as with the main one, sells plenty of furniture as well as clothes and books – the one on the high street has an entire upstairs bookshop. Look out for cast iron fireplaces and patio sets. On Lower High Street you’ll find Cats Protection League, just up from King Edward VI college – educators of Robert Plant and Samuel Johnson, no less. Then back up Market Street to find Happy Staffie Rescue and Scope. That just leaves the very mid-century Ryemarket Centre where you’ll find Waitrose and Smiths and the like, as well as PDSA and Salvation Army.

While Stourbridge is hardly remarkably beautiful or noteworthy, it turns out that it’s a very pleasant place to wile away some time. It’s a bustling little town centre with some gorgeous buildings – King Eds, the Town Hall and St Thomas’ church are all very attractive. It makes a great stop on a day out to the country as well – it’s only a short hop from here to Bridgnorth or the Wyre Forest. Best of all, a whole heap of charity shops – if this was the Grandstand vidiprinter, that would be 11 (eleven).

Find: Stourbridge @ Google Maps
Get there: Plenty of buses end at the bus station, and you also have the shortest branch line in Europe terminating at Stourbridge Town with its funny little trains.
Consume with: There are plenty of coffee and food places around – there’s a Caffe Nero, and The Well looks quite nice. If you’re willing to expand your horizons, there’s many pubs doing a wallet-friendly £3.69 carvery (The Old White Horse), some doing some lovely food in a lovely location (The Vine, Kinver) and of course, plenty of curry (I recommend Balti Bazaar in Lye).
Visit: The Glass Quarter is full of museums and things to do – the Red House Cone is basically a big red cone for making glass, and if glass is your thang, you’ll find plenty of interest at Broadfield House or the Ruskin Glass Centre. If not, take a wander along the canal or to the lovely Mary Stevens Park.
Overall rating: five antique fireplaces

Kenilworth

199-365 Kenilworth Castle by johngarghan, used under creative commons. Click pic for link.

We’re not a couple for big holidays, but just recently our life has taken a turn for the glamorous. Job interviews and subsequent relocation mean that we’ve been exploring some of the finest budget hotels in the greater Midlands area, including the fancy likes of Bicester and Northampton. It’s always a good excuse for a trip away though, CST-style, and staying in Coventry Travelodge takes some beating in the glamour stakes. We were only sad to have forgotten our 2-for-1 Toby Carvery breakfast vouchers.

This time, we eschewed the vast flyovers and concrete road-mazes of central Coventry and headed out on the road towards Leamington Spa and Warwick after having had a quick drive around the pretty fancy University of Warwick. This route brings you into the ridiculously scenic country town that is Kenilworth. It may be surrounded by the medieval big hitter at Warwick, the Regency smartness of Leamington, the ashphalt maze of Coventry and the hulking West Midlands conurbation just the other side of the M42; but Kenilworth retains a bucolic air of calmness and relaxation, all watched over by a wonderfully ruinous castle. Arriving onto The Square in search of breakfast, a gloriously sunny day lay stretching ahead of us, and we ate our scrambled eggs on toast very cheerfully in a café aptly named Escape.

There seems to be a correllation between the sort of wealth of residents and the proximity of a railway station. Kenilworth has none, excluding many commuters; but the town exudes a comfortable wealth and community that’s evident in its charity shops and the bustling, friendly vibes of the high street. Up at the Square end, Oxfam bears evidence of this with its wealth of genuinely interesting artefacts. There are silver-topped walking canes; an excellent and interesting book selection; several substantial sets of Denby stoneware; and best of all some ancient cameras complete with some sort of concertina-type mechanism.

Close by is Cats Protection: less fancy, but very good for a rummage. We came away with a £2.50 leather suitcase and very nearly a pile of caravan-friendly melamine cruets, dishes and the like. There’s a cheerful selection of vinyls and books, and some fairly constant singing staff. Head down Warwick Road and you’ll find plenty more: RSPCA, AgeUK, Acorns Hospice, Myton Hospice, Cancer Research and Headway all offering a variety of goodies. There’s also a Scope tucked around the corner in the new pedestrianised development

It’s rare that I’ll suggest this, but with a town centre crammed with no less than nine charity shops, you still haven’t seen the best of Kenilworth. Get your comfy shoes on and take a hike up the hill: there’s another, more select High Street; street after street of the most beautiful, rambly old houses, many overlooking Abbey Fields; and best of all, the massive Kenilworth Castle in all its crumbly, red sandstone glory. While it’s only a little town really, there’s plenty to explore, and it’s just about worthy of a rare five out of five.

Find: Kenilworth @ Google Maps
Get there: Like at Stow, the railway is a luxury you don’t get in Kenilworth. Plenty of buses though.
Consume with: There’s a number of good looking eateries – we broke our fast at Escape, and The Almanack also looked nice.
Visit: The castle, obviously.
Overall rating: five vintage cameras

Newbury

 

Newbury Lock, by Michael Keen, used under Creative Commons. Click pic for link to photostream.

 

Newbury is somewhere you don’t really visit on purpose, just as you don’t, say, call a utility company on purpose: you call because you have to, and the same would appear true of Newbury. My experiences of Newbury mostly involve circumnavigating it on the controversial bypass, looking out of the car window at Watership Down, which is nearby, and some implanted grain of knowledge that Vodafone is based there: it’s probably an office town. However, as I find far too often, my uninformed pre-suppositions are entirely wrong: Newbury is actually pretty charming.

We ended up in Newbury quite by accident: after a holiday in Cornwall, the increasingly-less-reliable car broke down at Chieveley services, and we ended up staying in the Travelodge there. The car had been towed to a garage in Newbury, so we were left with a day to wander the city streets while some expensive tinkering was going on in the fuel tank. It turned out to be a happy accident. The day was sunny and an October kind of warm, and the smartened-up wharfsides of the Kennet & Avon canal provide a very pleasant meander into the town centre, emerging by a large Costa onto Bridge Street. There’s pubs and restaurants (and yes, a charity shop) backing onto the canal on the other side. The bridge itself, like a miniature Bridge of Sighs, is the central point of the semi-pedestrianised town centre. North is Northbrook Street, home to a very nice, long Oxfam which yielded a bumper set of tapes for the car, and smaller Scope and YMCA shops – still all very well presented and kitted out.

Heading South from the bridge is Bartholemew Street. St Nicholas’ church towers over the shops and the passers-by – directly opposite that is the wonderfully-named (and generally wonderful) Kitchen Monger, from which we started Christmas preparations in the shape of a pudding basin, and were tempted by various see-through toasters, silicone jelly moulds, and coffee machines. As per usual for a cookshop then – just wait until I write up Worcester, the spiritual home of the cookshop. More importantly though is possibly my favourite charity shop chain, the Helen & Douglas House Hospice. As found in Abingdon, Beaconsfield, Chesham and elsewhere, this is always the best-looking shop in town, and possibly the only charity shop to feature a coffee shop upstairs: a slight stretch of the imagination, given that it’s a coffee machine nestled amongst the bookshelves, but we’re forgiving types here at CST Towers.

Also on the street is a Blue Cross, slightly scruffier perhaps, but home to the bargain of the day: juicer, £3.95, wham bam thankyou mam. Go East from the bridge and you’re in the market place (Thursdays and Saturdays), with its looming Corn Exchange Arts Centre and pavement cafes. It really wouldn’t look out of place in a provincial French town. You’ll find a typically poorly laid-out British Heart Foundation (the one whose rear can be seen from the canalside), a large Cancer Research and a smaller Save The Children here, bringing the total we found on the day to a healthy eight: not bad for an accident. I’d definitely commend making a day of it and coming back again, on purpose perhaps, hence a very generous score.

Find: Newbury @ Google Maps
Consume with: plenty of pubs and restaurants along the canal – the Costa is vast as well, and a pleasant enough place to wile away time waiting for the car to be fixed.
Visit: the downland to the South of Newbury is very lovely – I’ll point you towards the hill-fort at Beacon Hill and the talking rabbits of Watership Down.
Overall rating: five Billy Ocean cassettes

Falmouth

 

Herring gull, by andyrob under Creative Commons. Click pic for link.

Originally known as Pennycomequick (maybe as a companion to the nearby Come-To-Good), Falmouth is quite the historic town. Part of the third deepest natural harbour system in the world (After Sydney and Milford Haven, apparently), the town is at the mouth of the river Fal, and a long way down South West in Cornwall. Famous for its military association (right back to Henry VIII) and as the preferred starting point for round-the-world types like Ellen MacArthur, Robin Knox-Johnston and Sir Francis Chichester, Falmouth is nothing if not the maritime town, and this is notable in every way throughout.

 

It actually makes for a very nice town: the new dockside developments are all very wooden and fresh-looking, and after a quick detour into Trago Mills,  a delicious fish and chips lunch was consumed – in fact, one of the best I’ve had. We ate overlooking the battleship in the harbour, and sat, and gossiped in the sun: it’s a lovely place for that.

And then onwards, to the charity shops. Falmouth the commercial centre is really arranged along two lengthy main drags. From the chippie, we make our way along Arwenack Street, which in turn becomes Church Street, then Market Street. This winding, cobbled street is the heart of the quaint old town: all the shops you’d like to see are hear, and few more cute ones beside. Proceeding away from the harbour, you first come to the pairing of the Cornwall Hospice and National Animal Welfare Trust. The former is a nice enough shop with an upstairs section, but the latter is a cluttered, interesting, junky delight. 

Then onwards to British Heart Foundation – a word to the wise, if you’re after a coffee by this time, Costa has the best seats I’ve seen in a coffee shop, maybe ever. Lodged into the rugged crenellations of the sea wall, these tables overlook the harbour directly, over two levels. Definitely worth a stop. Onwards then, to Oxfam and Cancer Research at the foot of the High Street. Once you’ve looked at these though, take a left along Webber Street to the broad conjunction of Killigrew Street and Berkeley Vale. Here you’ll find the grand post office, located through the back of  a coffee shop, and a variety of more everyday shops (no White Stuffs here, no chain coffee) – you’ll find a Cornwall Hospice up here (according to Google Maps, at least) and a Salvation Army – we didn’t make it this far, time being against us.

Falmouth was a thoroughly pleasant place to spend a quiet, sunny, holiday afternoon. There’s plenty to satisfy the shopper, the lounger, the bargain hunter, the viewfinder, and plenty of other holidaymaking ilks besides.

Find: Falmouth on Google Maps
Consume with: Chips and coffee – as above.
Visit: Henry VIII’s Pendennis Castle overlooks the town and the beaches, and is open through English Heritage.
Overall rating: five ghoulish celebrity autobiographies

Hitchin

 

Church, under Creative Commons from Limbo Poet's photostream. Click pic for link.

There’s something a little bit familiar about Hitchin. It’s not that I’ve been here before, rather that this is an archetypal English town: cobbled market square, narrow alleys, beautiful wall writing and flourishes, huge central church, riverside walk with swans, you name it, it’s here. As such it’s a really lovely place, and thankfully, it’s not lost any of its ancient charm.

Hitchin’s been around since the dark ages, and has thrived on its market. These days, the central square is empty of traders, who locate themselves on a much larger plot to the side of St. Marys church – little of your frou frou organic breads or wild mushrooms here, Hitchin market is a bustling, proper market: odds and sods from one stand, traders barking vegetables at passersby minding their own business, a discount meat lorry with an affable brummie, offering as much as you can fit in your freezer for twenty pounds.

Just a short walk from the market, past the odd, confused, but ginormous church, all mismatched in its colouring, and over the small navigated path of the River Hiz, you’ll end up in the town square, today home to buskers and coffee carts, and a general meeting point. With a four faced clock overlooking you (courtesy of Gatwards jewellers, est. 1760), you can point yourself in any direction and find a genuine haul of charity shop goodies.

Totter south down Sun Street (carefully now, mind those stones) to Help The Aged, a spacious shop which we visited twice, thankfully finding the object of our desires still there. Wander further and you’ll find a shop specialising in Ordnance Survey maps: I chose not to visit in the estimation that I would never leave…

Go south-west of the square and you’ll find a Scope and one of the two Cancer Research shops sat on the corner. Cancer Research caters (in a small way) to the retro/vintage market with a small shelf dedicated to the same, although whoever makes the choice of what qualifies as retro/vintage may need some sort of big city exposure.

Head past the Corn Exchange to the little arcade on West Alley: here you’ll find a Salvation Army shop that closes at one, so cannot face review. More notable for me however, next to the secondhand bookshop is the wonderful Touch Of Garnish, a tiny but heaving caf which served us up a magnificent hot roast pork and apple sauce sandwich, and a first-rate bread pudding. Wonderful stuff, and wonderfully friendly types manning the station: Larry Garnish (real name!) seemed ever so proud that we enjoyed his pork, and was happy to commend us further for picking out his bread pudding.

Heading up the semi-pedestrianised, we find the second Cancer Research and British Heart Foundation, the former yielding up a brand new Peter Storm top, perfect for my cycle commute, only a fiver to you sir. Further still and we reach the Garden House Hospice, a cavernous place stuffed with furniture of all varieties and tons of homeware. We left with egg cups, and all manner of terracotta thingummies.

You can continue on to the Sue Ryder further up (we didn’t…), or dogleg back down Church Road to find Save The Children (on two levels, men’s clothes and books upstairs, offering up Soren Kierkegaard‘s Purity Of Heart on this occasion) and Oxfam, bringing you back to the square. So, totting up the number I very nearly run out of fingers: ten charity shops, all good, a variety of lovely little cafes, beautiful church and square, excellent market, Hitchin has everything going for it.

Find: Hitchin on Google Maps
Transport: Hitchin stati0n is on the Great Northern Line, and although it’s a bit out of the way, offers a half-hour connection to London.
Consume with: definitely some sort of roast pork, from A Touch Of Garnish 
Visit: Hitchin Museum, and Physic Garden
Overall rating: five complete dinner services

EDIT: on return to Hitchin, the Sally Army Care & Share was open – definitely good for a poke, this rambling shop is located nearly opposite the pork sandwich shop (yes we went back…) and is good for really cheap clothes (if you can find something you like), random objets, and a variety of kitsch kitchen machines including smoothie maker, teasmaid and best of all, chicken rotisserie for only £7.

Pinner

Pinner High Street by Diamondgeezer, from Flickr under Creative Commons

In the heart of Metroland, Pinner is perhaps an archetype of suburbia: the kind of suburbia that gives meat to sitcoms (May To December and One Foot In The Grave were both set here), that endless urban sprawl of seeming blandness, identikit family homes, and convenient rail connections to the City.

Yet Pinner is actually far from heartless. Rather, it’s an ancient settlement that, though swallowed up by London in the 30′s, has managed to retain a twee charm, and even the occasional touch of elegance. As such, it’s been home to a disproportionate number of classic British celebrities: Elton John, Ronnie Barker, Bob “007″ Holness, Patrick Moore, Heath Robinson and Mrs Beeton. No doubt these individuals would have been happy enough in today’s High Street – this little strip of wide road leading up to the church and green (while not home to any charity shops, more’s the pity) is bounded by any number of cute boutiques and restaurants.

The aforementioned urban sprawl is evident in the extension of the original high street’s shopping facilities along Bridge Street, as well as a large Sainsburys next to the all important Metropolitan Line station. Along these lanes then are found the charity shops that make Pinner worth a visit.

I count six here. Three are fairly ordinary. A standard Cancer Research, a small Mencap and RSPCA, are complemented by three excellent siblings, making Pinner well worth a jaunt. Next to the RSPCA, Barnardos have a large shop with a decent bookshop section. I left with Massive Attack‘s Mezzanine (this is why I love shopping secondhand, I’m catching up on all those records and books that I always meant to listen to, or read, but never quite got around to at the time). Turn right from Love Lane up to St. Lukes Hospice, a hangar of a shop with another decent book section. In fact, I didn’t really get past this because by the time I was finished in that alcove, I was already carrying more books (at 99p each, how could I not?) than I could reasonably expect to carry back to the car: two hardback editions by T.E. Lawrence (of “of Arabia” fame) and a set of world-spanning history books.

Then over the road, a magnificently chaotic Oxfam was the pick of the bunch – while Oxfam is never the cheapest option, this one was decent value, and stocked with all sorts of interesting bits and pieces – my companion ummed and aahed over a very nice coat, tat lay happily strewn around, and I emerged somehow carrying more books – Freakonomics, conversations with Vaclav Havel, and a Graham Greene. Success!

I liked the place a great deal and am mulling. How many points? Four out of five, you think? I’ll probably aim higher, on the basis that the caf where we had lunch, staffed by mysteriously vagrant school-age students, was probably not the best thing on offer.

Find: Pinner on Google Maps
Transport: Pinner station, Metropolitan line
Consume with: a hilariously literal rice and peas dish from Paphos Diner
Visit: Pinner Fair
Overall rating: five copies of Cloud Atlas 

    

Golders Green

Golders Green by tophee

First things first: be aware that this post will require updating. You see, lovely as Golders Green is, it’s a bit tricky on the charity shop front, for one main reason: this is Jew country, and therefore, you go on a Saturday, you’ll find half the shops closed. Which is a considerable amount: In total there’s eight charity shops, with a new Barnardo’s just being kitted out, so I’m going to rate Golders Green on it’s full potential, not just the one visit.

Go on a weekday, then. If you do, you’ll be spoilt for choice, and though you’ll be fending off the wealthy looking elderly Jewish ladies, you’ll be rewarded. Starting at the tube, there’s two close by on Finchley Road, a Cancer Research and an All Aboard (the latter was closed, but the Cancer Research was excellent: a particularly good selection of music and books, small but good. I left with The Princess Bride (yes!) on DVD, a Run DMC album and a Hemingway paperback). According to Google Maps, if you went the other way up Finchley Road, there would be an Oxfam and another All Aboard (Google claims three around here: I’m not convinced). We didn’t investigate that far on this occasion, but seeing as Golders Green is getting a good, hard revisiting as soon as possible, I can update soon.

The main shopping drag is Golders Green Road, between the tube station and heading up towards Hendon/Brent Cross at the North Circular. Here you’ll find JAMI, two Norwood shops (all closed), a North London Hospice (pretty good, as usual), and a Marie Curie (not bad…), plus a couple more. A goodly selection. the shops are pretty well-stocked too – my biggest ever charity shop regret is a £45 accordion from Golders Green. Is that a bargain? I don’t know! Aargh!

Golders Green is an excellent stop off. There’s tons here, as well as some handy other shops (there’s two Choices, which is the factory-outlet version of Next, including a home shop), and dead handy for Golders Hill Park and Hampstead Heath. I heartily approve.

Find: Golders Green @ Google Maps
Transport: Golders Green on the Northern line
Consume with: I went with a safe Caffe Nero cake, but on a non-Saturday, there’s loads of kosher bakeries and cafes that look wonderful.
Visit: Golders Hill Park is well worth your time: deer and donkeys, a beautiful park with a decent caf, and handy access to the incredible Hill Garden on Hampstead Heath.
Web: MC Rebbe the rapping Rabbi; Golders-Green.com; more
Overall rating: five too-small coats