Barter Books is a second-hand bookshop in the historic English market town of Alnwick, Northumberland, owned and run by Stuart and Mary Manley. It has over 350,000 visitors a year, 40% of whom are from outside the area, and is one of the largest second-hand bookshops in Europe.[1] It is considered a local tourist attraction[2] and has been described as "the British Library of second-hand bookshops."[3]
The bookshop is in the Victorian Alnwick railway station, designed by William Bell and opened in 1887.[4] The station was in use until the closure of the Alnwick branch line in 1968;[5] Barter Books was opened in 1991. It is open every day including bank holidays except for Christmas Day.
The shop also houses a cafe called The Station Buffet which serves hot food all day to customers at tables in the original tiled waiting rooms of the railway station. [6]
The shop is notable for its use of a barter system, whereby customers can exchange their books for credit against future purchases; standard cash purchases are also available.
Keep Calm and Carry On poster
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In 2000 the owner discovered, in a box of old books bought at an auction,[7] a World War II poster from 1939 with the message "Keep Calm and Carry On". The shop owners framed it and hung it up by the cash register; it attracted so much interest that Manley began to produce and sell copies.[8][9]
In late 2005, Guardian journalist Susie Steiner featured the replica posters as a Christmas gift suggestion, raising their profile still further.[10][11] Other companies followed the Manleys' example, and the design rapidly began to be used as the theme for a wide range of products.[12] Mary Manley later commented, "I didn't want it trivialised; but of course now it's been trivialised beyond belief."[12]
See also
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edit- ^ "A Novel Experience - A Visit to Barter Books Alnwick". Tracy's Travels in Time. 10 May 2019. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ^ "Visit Barter Books | Stay With Us". YHA. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ^ "Mr Smith goes to . . . the second-hand bookshop". www.newstatesman.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ^ "Aln Valley Railway and Society @". Railways-of-britain.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ^ Alnwick Branch Archived August 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Barter Books, System Administrator (14 November 2011). "Barter Books". www.barterbooks.co.uk. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- ^ "About". Keepcalmhome.com. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ^ "About Keep Calm and Carry On". 14 November 2011. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ Manley, Stuart (25 April 2009). "First person: 'I am the Keep Calm and Carry On man'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 October 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
- ^ Jack, Malcolm (20 April 2020). "How we made the Keep Calm and Carry On poster". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
- ^ Lewis, Bex (2017). Keep Calm and Carry On: The Truth Behind the Poster. London: Imperial War Museum. ISBN 978-1904897347. OCLC 979568000.
- ^ a b "Keep Calm and carry on ... into a feud". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 May 2013. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
External links
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