During a recent stay in England I was able to visit Barter Books in Alnwick, Northumberland. Fortunately, watching an episode of 'Vera' had taught me that Alwick is pronounced Allick, so the bus driver understood me when I asked for a ticket! It takes 90 minutes to get there from Newcastle and Barter Books has its own bus stop.
Much has been written about this second hand bookshop in an old railway station and when entered I certainly felt all my expectations were coming true: nicely decorated rooms, a large mural, a toytrain, lots of chairs and sofa's, open fires and a great Station Buffet. This is certainly a destination where you can spend some time.
As for the books, I'm not so sure. As they cater for all subjects (see floorplan ) there is a little bit of everything. My impression was that, apart from the antiquarian books behind glass doors, they mostly stock books from the late 20th century and from this century. When I enter a secondhand bookshop there is always that feeling of excitement, that you might discover something unexpected, find that illusive book, but that wasn't the case here. I had expected to spend hours there, but found I had quickly seen everything. All in all I would say if you have a general interest in books and like reading novels, then this is a great place to visit. If you're interest in is one particular subject, then not so much. But if you are in the neighbourhood: go, if only to have lunch or tea.
There were two things I found odd: the loud music being played, which I felt did not suit the atmosphere of a bookshop, and the fact that lots of people brought their, sometimes very large, dogs to the shop.
Read all about Barter Books here
Of course, these were the shelves that I was specially interested in. As you can see, not many books and most of them recent. But I did buy two, which I will write about later. Another book was found in Alnwick's other secondhand bookshop, run by Lions.
