Barter Books is in the former Alnwick railway station

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 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.

Original copy of the 1939 Keep Calm And Carry On poster, in Barter Books, Alnwick, Northumberland.

Barter Books has also been subject to crime on occasion. On 3 May 2007 a local newspaper, the Northumberland Gazette, reported that a book worth over £2,000 was returned to the book shop 5 years after it was stolen.[6]

Barter Books hit the headlines in 2000 when the owner discovered, in a box of old books bought at an auction,[7] a World War II poster from 1939. The slogan, "Keep Calm and Carry On", and the simple design have turned it into an international phenomenon; and it has been on the walls of places as diverse as Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street and the US Embassy in Belgium.[8]

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. [9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "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.
  2. ↑ "Visit Barter Books | Stay With Us". YHA. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  3. ↑ "Mr Smith goes to . . . the second-hand bookshop". www.newstatesman.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  4. ↑ "Aln Valley Railway and Society @". Railways-of-britain.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  5. ↑ Alnwick Branch Archived August 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ "Happy ending for stolen rare book - Northumberland Today". Northumberlandgazette.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  7. ↑ "About". Keepcalmhome.com. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  8. ↑ What Crisis? Keep Calm and Carry On: The Poster we Can't Stop Buying Archived 19 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine - The Guardian
  9. ↑ Barter Books, System Administrator (14 November 2011). "Barter Books". www.barterbooks.co.uk. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
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