In recent years, some of my favourite haunts have been second-hand CM CD shops, often a source of surprising treasures at good prices. My local store (The Turning Point: no website, alas) gets interesting estate sales now and then. This summer it got ahold of a collection that's now acquainted me with Roger Sessions (the VC + 5 symphonies), Rodion Shchedrin (clo concerto, a PC + pf works), 3 nla Piston symphonies, MacMillan's PC, etc. I go almost every other day to see what trickles out. As I was leaving on holidays to England this summer, I got a tip about a 2nd-hand CD shop in the city of York, which we planned to visit. 'Classical & Jazz' (76 Micklegate, tel 01904 625482) claims to be the largest store of 2nd-hand, rare and deleted classical CDs in Britain -- including London! I think the attendant, Jay Williams, mentioned 7,000 CM CDs. Service was swift and energetic, not to say manic: Jay's a CM devotee either with the energy of a hyperactive teen or he's seriously overdosing on coffee and can't help multi-tasking up and down the shop's 3 storeys in search of, well, just about anything. In no time flat, while various other customers smiled down at music he'd just found them, I was also gazing in disbelief at what he'd dug up for me: 4 rare CDs by Hoddinott, Holloway, McCabe and Mathias. Factoring in my sale of 3 indigestible CDs I'd taken with me for the purpose, these 'pre-enjoyed' recordings cost me just under 20GBPounds. Not bad. Best news yet: there's a website, http://www.classicalandjazz.net/, and it's got a good search mechanism. Information about the CDs is a little scant, but there's enough to go elsewhere on the Net to double-check the contents. Prices aren't exactly cheap -- but what is, in England? (only cheese and chocolates, I'd say). On the other hand, shipping costs are reasonable: to Canada it's just 2GBPounds for the first CD, and 80p for each additional CD. Not bad, again. What's listed on the site, I gather, is not complete; one's best off writing to find out precisely what they've got. They have an unusual requests feature ('Customer Wants') that gives them a record of items missing from your collection, so you'll get notified if they get them in. Anyone else get a kick out of 2nd-hand CD shops? Bert Bailey, in Ottawa