Barter Books

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Barter Books is in the former Alnwick railway station Barter Books three.jpg
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]

Contents

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

Original copy of the 1939 Keep Calm And Carry On poster, in Barter Books, Alnwick, Northumberland. Keep Calm And Carry On - Original poster - Barter Books - 17-Oct-2011.jpg
Original copy of the 1939 Keep Calm And Carry On poster, in Barter Books, Alnwick, Northumberland.

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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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. Barter Books, System Administrator (14 November 2011). "Barter Books". www.barterbooks.co.uk. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  7. "About". Keepcalmhome.com. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  8. "About Keep Calm and Carry On". 14 November 2011. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  9. 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.
  10. Jack, Malcolm (20 April 2020). "How we made the Keep Calm and Carry On poster". The Guardian . Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  11. Lewis, Bex (2017). Keep Calm and Carry On: The Truth Behind the Poster. London: Imperial War Museum. ISBN   978-1904897347. OCLC   979568000.
  12. 1 2 "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.

55°24′37″N1°41′58″W / 55.41028°N 1.69944°W / 55.41028; -1.69944