Trinity Hospice Charity Shops

If this weren’t a charity shop in a good cause I would keep it to myself (even though I live in the US and don’t get to visit that often). Forget about the overpriced vintage shops en route to and on Portobello Road (unless you’re a label hound with a mission). Walk the opposite way from the tube station, and just before you get to Clanricarde Gardens you will find this place. My only regret is that I had to toss the little block of incense in the exquisite enamelled Moroccan covered jar that I got for 3 pounds, because the US customs people might have thought it was something else. (And maybe it was.) That, and having bought about five pounds (weight, not price) of books I hadn’t even seen yet in the US (Rendell, Walters and McEwan), which distended and weighted down my minimalist luggage. I brought a 20-​something friend by there later and she found a couple of flashy yet tasteful 80s evening purses and hair ornaments that enabled her to compose her sister’s birthday present in five minutes for under 10 pounds. On top of which it’s next door to a friendly internet café that also does phone calls. Nice staff too.