As I drove through St Clements the other day I crawled past one of my favourite haunts, the ramshackle Age Concern shop.
Some charity shops have rather a sanitised feel these days but I'm pretty sure that no-one has bothered with the Dettox wipes down there for a long time.
And long may it remain that way. The shop is a treasure trove of second-hand goods, piled high onto every available shelf.
The place is so packed that there isn't much room for the customers, but if you do manage to squeeze in you won't be disappointed.
There is an excellent collection of second-hand books inside, spread liberally and somewhat chaotically throughout the shop, although I'm sure there is method in the manager's madness.
Just inside the door there was a shelf of old paperbacks and as I stood alongside a student keenly fingering some Evelyn Waugh, I noticed a copy of The Trials of Oz by Tony Palmer.
The book is a faithful account of the longest obscenity trial in history and features Rumpole author John Mortimer as the defence barrister.
The yellowing paperback, published in August 1971, was a bargain at £2, particularly as I had managed to snaffle a free parking space on Iffley Road.
I had circled the area for about 10 minutes after finding the municipal car park full.
I have now broken the back of Valerie Grove's John Mortimer biography but I have to confess that I started re-reading the Rumpole stories, which obviously did not help.
There was no sign of Rumpole in Age Concern in St Clements but I'm sure he would have loved the organised chaos.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article