Barter Books
Bookshops are by their very nature storied places, and my favorite kind of bookshop is of the second-hand variety. From cheap contemporary paperbacks to the most valuable antiquarian first edition, there are just so many treasures waiting to be discovered, books with both the stories within their pages and the stories contained in the flyleaf inscriptions. Put a second-hand bookshop into a former Victorian-era train station, and you have all the ingredients for many happy hours spent with your head tilting from side to side reading the spines of books. All these delights and more can be found at Barter Books in Alnwick.
You’re probably familiar with the now-famous phrase, “Keep Calm and Carry On,’ but you probably didn’t realize that the burgeoning popularity of this war-time slogan didn’t emerge until 2000 when a poster was discovered here at Barter Books. This short video tells the story. Set against a backdrop of images of London in WWII and with video footage inside the bookshop, it’s very moving and charming.
The shop has a cozy fire in the former waiting room and plenty of tall, wooden shelves for browsing. There’s even a charming café where you can have a cuppa and a simple meal. (I enjoyed a bowl of pumpkin lentil soup one dark October night.) Make a day of it by combining your visit with Alnwick Castle. Barter Books is one of the largest second-hand bookshops in Europe and is well worth a spot on your itinerary.
