London through its charity shops #36: some odds and ends

Victoria, SW1P
The train station and surrounding area have been under construction for years and it still feels like a building site. The shiny new buildings are all ghastly, with one – the Nova Victoria – being dubbed ugliest of the year last year and winning the Carbuncle Cup.

The only redeeming features in the area are the stunning Westminster Cathedral, with its Stations of the Cross by Eric Gill, and Strutton Ground, the only nice road in the vicinity with its cobbled stones and weekday food market. There’s a jolly nice Oxfam bookshop there, also selling music and DVDs.

Bermondsey Street, SE1
My favourite street around London Bridge now has a charity shop. Cause for celebration? Nope, because it’s a Marys Living and Giving Shop for Save the Children with no books or records and men's shirts costing £25.

Tulse Hill, SW2 to West Norwood, SE27
It’s taken me years to know the difference between Tulse and Herne Hill (confusingly, for my mind anyway, it’s because they’re so close to each other). Tulse Hill is horrible, where people get shot and dragged under cars; Herne Hill is pretty nice.

Across the road from Tulse Hill train station is a ramshackle Geranium Shops For The Blind charity shop. These are getting to be such a rare breed; most charity shops been tarted up into boutiques with prices to match. This one’s cheap and a bit dirty but can get in good stuff.

Continuing south along Norwood Road, we enter West Norwood before we reach another charity shop, and it’s another Geranium. This is similarly ramshackle but bigger. Next is a relatively sterile RSPCA, with not much of anything of interest, ever. Past the train station on Knight’s Hill are two Emmaus Lambeth, one selling white goods and electricals, the other, clothes.

Herne Hill, SE24
Herne Hill is nicely situated by Brockwell Park and has a funky market on Sundays. Not greatly served by charity shops, it has two pleasant Oxfam shops opposite each other on the delightfully named Half Moon Lane, a general shop and a bookshop.

Brixton, SW2 & SW9
Brixton has also never been good for charity shops. There’s been a TRAID for years, which I’ve never been in, and there’s now a huge Barnardo’s on the corner of Brixton and Stockwell Roads, almost opposite the Brixton Academy. Lots of clothes, records, bric-a-brac and books; they had a good selection of art books when I last went in – I picked up one on Marcel Dzama for a couple of quid.

Previously on Barnflakes
London through its charity shops