Teignmouth charity shops

Our holiday was going quite well until my husband slipped and twisted his ankle. This meant that yesterday I had to entertain the children whilst my husband went to A&E. After exhausting the possibilities of the play park, beach and pier I thought I deserved a treat. Teignmouth is brilliant for charity shops and I never leave without some bargains.

There are at least 8 charity shops which is pretty good for a small seaside town. They are all within easy walking distance of each other and can be visited in under half an hour.

I started off by visiting the Rowcroft hospice shop which is down by the beach. It’s a funny little shop which seems to sell mainly clothes and books.

Then it was a quick walk past the cafes and along to the main street in the town centre where Sue Ryder Care and British Heart Foundation are. The second shop is annoyingly up 2 steps which I didn’t attempt with the Phil & Ted’s, but I’ve previously found some great toys, last year a huge Tonka truck for the toddler. There’s also a large age uk which can be guaranteed to hold some Thomas books.

If you turn left at the end of the road onto Somerset Place you’ll find a YMCA shop and small Children’s Society shop. The YMCA occasionally has some lovely pieces of furniture which my husband has never let me purchase.

If you double back to Waterloo Street there’s a PDSA where I’ve found some great toys. It’s narrow and not very pram friendly but stuffed full of the usual bargains. The final charity shop is an Oxfam bookshop nearby on Den Road. I visited it for the first time yesterday and it’s a lovely shop which looks and feels like a proper book shop. The toddler spotted a Thomas book from 50 paces which made me glad it was the last charity shop of the day!

I’ve definitely found that having children has skewed my judgement of what is a good or bad charity shop experience. Now I like an open door and wide, pram-friendly aisles. This trip I came away with lots of vintage Thomas the Tank Engine books and not much else. Fingers crossed the husband is back on his feet soon so I can look further than the toy section!