| Alnwick Lions Bookshop 
(Next to The White Swan Hotel)
Bondgate Within
ALNWICK Northumberland NE66 1TD map
tel: No phone
Open: Monday, Tuesday & Thursday 10.00 - 4.00, Saturday 8.00 - 4.00.
Shut but it looks quite interesting from looking in the window. - Jeremy Briggs 12.03.09.
Not quite as interesting as it appears from looking in the window! Having finally visited Alnwick on a day that this shop was open it proves to be a medium sized charity bookshop with a well laid out general stock of mainly fiction. It will be aimed at the locals and Alnwick's busy tourist trade but, for the book collector, it has little of interest. - Jeremy Briggs 29.06.09.
Alphabet Soup
13 Bowes Street
BLYTH Northumberland NE24 1BD map
tel: 01670 797804
Open: Monday - Saturday 9.30 - 4.00.
Mostly fiction.
A coffee shop with a small selection of books, this shop suffers the same problem as most similar establishments in that you cannot see the bookcases when people are at the tables. Worth a visit if you are in Blyth but not worth travelling any distance to. - Jeremy Briggs.
Barter Books
Alnwick Station
ALNWICK Northumberland NE66 2NP map
tel: 01665 604888 fax: 01665 604444 e-mail web
Open: 9.00 - 5.00 everyday (April to September 9.00 - 7.00).
All categories of books. One of the largest secondhand bookshops in Britain. 'The British Library of Secondhand Bookshops' - The New Statesman.
It really is in an old railway station and it really is BIG. Calling it a shop does not do Barter Books justice, it is more of a day out. For the dedicated collector it could easily take several hours to peruse. Alnwick is a pretty market town and Barter Books is located in its old railway station, easily found from the A1. The platforms have been filled in and the now enclosed main concourse has become the main retail area, but the various rooms and waiting areas are used as well. The main children's section for instance has it own room with soft toys and seats to sit on whilst the children peruse the titles, if they are not distracted by the toy train that runs around the tops of the bookcases in the next room. There are coffee and biscuits to be bought and consumed in the reading room or the in the comfy chairs beside the fire. The main stock ranges from collectable books in glass cases on the walls to row upon row of paperbacks, from LPs to CDs & DVDs. They have a large selection of paperback and hardback fiction but there really can be few subjects that they do not cover. On a winters day the main concourse area can be cold and while the shop never feels full the car park is tight to manoeuvre in and out of when busy. Their pricing, oddly, rarely seems to end in a round pound or 50p but that is all part of the charm. Really not to be missed. - Jeremy Briggs.
Lovely shop, but grotesquely expensive, at least for anyone used to London bookshops. Which may be why one can recognise books one glanced at and put back after shuddering at the price years earlier.- Geoff Hatherick 22.07.08.
Twee, self-satisfied and over priced, but wonderful if like gimmicks and are prepared to pay prices that are clearly set to fund the extras and the large staff. I really didn't feel that it was worth the diversion off the A1 and that I would have been better off looking elsewhere. - Steven Pedlar. - 17.11.08.
This bookshop should really change it's name. It claims to barter books but has twice now refused to barter books having previously agreed to do so. It doesn't do what it says on the tin! Pretentious and expensive. Not worth a detour. - Stuart Tucker 02.12.08
This place makes my blood boil. They have worthless titles at inflated prices yet refuse to be told of their misrepresentations both on the internet and across the counter. As an example one £84 priced book has half its pages missing and is worth about £3. I have yet to purchase a quality title from this organisation. - Chris Harte 14.04.09.
What a pleasant surprise. Instead of the 'old' ways which used to annoy me, I found an organisation which had helpful, knowledgeable people; prices which reflected books' correct value and a bartering system which was being used all during my three hour visit. I purchased four expensive books and came away feeling that both sides were satisfied. The sea-change here is to be welcomed. - Chris Harte 29.05.09.
While I rarely review prices, since one man's bargain can be another's nightmare depending on what you are used too, I do agree that Barter Books can have some laughably high prices on their collectable titles (particularly given the condition) but there are still bargains to be had amidst the massive stock. Whatever is said here, the sheer number of people in the shop at weekends and the queues that can form at the tills shows that they are obviously doing something right. - Jeremy Briggs. 29.06.09.
Worth going because of its size and the terrific building itself.But most books overpriced by 30 to 40 % - hgilma2374 26.07.10.
Contrary to other reviews I found the prices of the science fiction books to be most reasonable. Shop is very large (certainly the largest in the North East). You can park for free and it has toilets which are handy. Shop is very spacious inside and items are stored by subject area and not scattered. - Iain Baille 22.11.10.
This place just makes me angry! The only time in my life that I've ever lost my temper in a shop is when despite offering 10% discount on purchaces over £30 they refused me as one of my books cost over £30! When will the owners realise that they'll sell many more books if they charge reasonable prices. The irony is that its cafe is one of the cheapest and best in the area and definately WAD.!!! How infuriating is that! - PaulP 05.11.11.
Top bookshop and WWAD - indeed well worth planning a holiday around a visit. Long may they run. - Steven Whitehead 13.07.12.
ust paid 3rd visit and still bought nothing. Over-priced. Most of it rubbish really. Childrens section really pitiful, full of books due for pulping. Never has a shop so much flattered to deceive! - Lionel 08.09.12.
Berrydin Books
18a Castlegate
BERWICK-UPON-TWEED Northumberland TD15 1JT map
tel: 01289 309000
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.30 - 6.00.
Excessively cheap general stock and in particular books on the arts and local interest.
Bright, well laid out and with a wonderful smell of pine from their new bookcases, this medium sized shop is a short walk out from the city walls and a big car park and only a few minutes drive from the main A1. Well stocked and friendly, with toys to amuse the children, it is well worth stopping off at if you are crossing the Scottish/English border at Berwick. - Jeremy Briggs.
This link has a video featuring the owner Rod and his young son. Stock comes mainly from charity shop culls and rejects. 20 crates of this are frequently around the counter. Also a barter scheme for light fiction mass market p/backs; multiple spare copies in the back room. Good interesting non-fiction can be found but the shelves are rather overloaded with average books. Most weeks I can find 1 or 2 items in this my local shop. May even have spent a whole £20 at one go once! Cheap and cheerful with pleasant service in narrow premises. - Chris K 14.03.11.
Hamish Dunn Antiques and Books
17 High Street
WOOLER Northumberland NE71 6BU map
tel: 01668 281341 or 07799 877917 e-mail
Open: Open 9.30 to 4.00. Closed on Thursdays.
Medium stock, of mostly older books. There is a back passage and room, but sadly they are rather damp-affected ... - Richard 29.07.09.
I looked in the window and my jaw dropped for on the shelves, for all to see, were some of the most rare sporting publications imaginable. This shop is a treasure trove. My wife, a geographer, spent well into three figures on scarce regional books which were scattered around on the many shelves. Very highly recommended - Chris Harte 17.06.10.
Makes Wooler well worth a visit, if he's open, but sometimes disapointing prices as condition makes no difference - warning he doesn't like haggling! - PaulP 05.11.11.
On the plus side quite a large number of books to view. On the downside very untidy, difficult to see, overpriced and in poor condition. All up a pity. - Jack 09.12.11.
Oxfam Bookshop
2 Battle Hill
HEXHAM Northumberland NE46 1BB map
tel: 01434 608923
Open: Monday - Saturday 9.00 - 5.00.
A small shop ideally placed and easy to find in the main shopping street, but hardly a substitute for losing Hencotes bookshop. - Jeremy Briggs.
Although small, just 2 rooms, is one of the friendliest and will hunt in their back room if you don't see what you want in the shop. - Geoff Martin 27.07.10.
Good Oxfam shop. Better priced than others in area. Well complimented by Hospice bookshop further up the street. - PaulP 02.08.11.
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