The most interesting booksellers I have met are in Lincoln. They are a talkative bunch. Many are elderly and their stories are more interesting than their books. Only outlines are given here for reasons of privacy.
If you arrive by train to Lincoln you need to take a slight turn to the left as you exit the station and walk up High Street. Most bookshops are off this street or the one it leads onto, called Steep Hill. The name is incorrect. It is a Very Steep Hill.
Central Market is a pedestrianised area to the right near the bottom of High Street. It has three bookstalls in it.
68. Unicorn Tree Books is at units 35-40 in Central Market. The owner used to work for SPCK books. She started Unicorn Tree thirteen years ago, originally selling fiction. Then the Christian bookshop in Lincoln closed. she now uses half of the space for Christian Lifestyle and prayer books, and bibles. Prices are good.
The bookshop is small but popular. The name is strange.
69. Full Circle Books is at the opposite end of the market to Unicorn Tree Books. It has a small selection of reasonably priced pulp fiction books.
It's been running for 33 years and is full-time. He also repairs watches and fits straps. Books are cheap. Worth a visit for escapist fiction.
70. Shane Chapman has a stall for Rare and 1st Edition books. He has about 800 books on display in a cube shape with magazines underneath.
Books are military, aviation or transport. The transport books are half price at the moment, and they seem good value.
Mr Chapman has been selling books for 21 years but feels the rare books market has declined a lot over the years. He now runs the shop out of personal reasons rather than to corner the Rare Books market. He is welcoming and very easy to talk to.
71. Westgate Antiques is at 24, Westgate. Steep Hill leads into Bailgate, off which is Westgate. It is twenty minutes walk from the train station due to the hill.
Westgate Antiques is run by Anne and her husband, who started it when he retired. It is a converted house which smelt damp due to lack of heating. Both are now in their eighties and it will stop trading when they get too old.
Westgate is open Fridays and Saturdays. The owners don't advertise it as they don't want too many customers.
One room is filled with books. The curation was Avant Garde. Books are stacked so high and close together that you can't see what they are. Even if you could, you could not get them out of the pile.
The books I sampled were more expensive than on the market.
72. LIndum Books is at 4 Bailgate. Its green front stands out. It looks like an archetypal bookshop.
The bookshop was too popular for its size. It couldn't hold more than two customers downstairs at a time, or three if unusually thin. The layout of the bookshop also created bottlenecks. There was a constant stream of people into the shop. The owner was very friendly and due to her popularity I was unable to speak to her.
Books were new and secondhand. Books were engaging and classified in traditional subjects with a "miscellaneous" section for oddments. There were dyslexic-friendly books in the children's section. The shop was small (a narrowboat sized) so it didn't have a great variety. Book prices seemed average.
73. Jews Court Bookshop is at 2-3 Steep Hill. It is well worth a visit if you're interested in things ancient or literary.
It is run by the Lincolnshire Society for Archeology and History, staffed by volunteers. Many books have been donated by the Society and reflect the members themselves, well-preserved, and idiosyncratic. The books are often surprisingly cheap. The range of books is of course limited to history and literature. There is an extensive collection of books stored away for events.
The Society also publishes books.
74. The Arboretum Bookshop is at 123 Monks Road, about 10 minutes walk to the east of the marketplace. The shop is a converted house. If it seems closed try pushing open the door. The owner hasn't replaced many of the broken fluorescent lights. She's waiting until they've all gone and will replace them together.
The owner has been collecting books from auctions since she was young. Eventually she had too many books for her house and so swapped it with the 123 Monks Road twenty-five years ago, which had just ceased trading as a freezer business. People also donate unwanted books.
Books are not curated so much as presented to the public as a piece of conceptual art. Some books face spine inwards so only page leaves can be seen. The owner says she knows where subjects are, but titles are not visible so this cannot be verified. The only certainty is that there are a lot of books in a space just bigger than a narrowboat. It it were a narrowboat, it would sink due to the weight of books. It also smells damp.
Book prices are standard for the area: about £2 for a paperback. The owner is elderly and I suspect she may retire before long.
If you arrive by train to Lincoln you need to take a slight turn to the left as you exit the station and walk up High Street. Most bookshops are off this street or the one it leads onto, called Steep Hill. The name is incorrect. It is a Very Steep Hill.
Central Market is a pedestrianised area to the right near the bottom of High Street. It has three bookstalls in it.
68. Unicorn Tree Books is at units 35-40 in Central Market. The owner used to work for SPCK books. She started Unicorn Tree thirteen years ago, originally selling fiction. Then the Christian bookshop in Lincoln closed. she now uses half of the space for Christian Lifestyle and prayer books, and bibles. Prices are good.
The bookshop is small but popular. The name is strange.
69. Full Circle Books is at the opposite end of the market to Unicorn Tree Books. It has a small selection of reasonably priced pulp fiction books.
It's been running for 33 years and is full-time. He also repairs watches and fits straps. Books are cheap. Worth a visit for escapist fiction.
70. Shane Chapman has a stall for Rare and 1st Edition books. He has about 800 books on display in a cube shape with magazines underneath.
Books are military, aviation or transport. The transport books are half price at the moment, and they seem good value.
Mr Chapman has been selling books for 21 years but feels the rare books market has declined a lot over the years. He now runs the shop out of personal reasons rather than to corner the Rare Books market. He is welcoming and very easy to talk to.
71. Westgate Antiques is at 24, Westgate. Steep Hill leads into Bailgate, off which is Westgate. It is twenty minutes walk from the train station due to the hill.
Westgate Antiques is run by Anne and her husband, who started it when he retired. It is a converted house which smelt damp due to lack of heating. Both are now in their eighties and it will stop trading when they get too old.
Westgate is open Fridays and Saturdays. The owners don't advertise it as they don't want too many customers.
One room is filled with books. The curation was Avant Garde. Books are stacked so high and close together that you can't see what they are. Even if you could, you could not get them out of the pile.
The books I sampled were more expensive than on the market.
72. LIndum Books is at 4 Bailgate. Its green front stands out. It looks like an archetypal bookshop.
The bookshop was too popular for its size. It couldn't hold more than two customers downstairs at a time, or three if unusually thin. The layout of the bookshop also created bottlenecks. There was a constant stream of people into the shop. The owner was very friendly and due to her popularity I was unable to speak to her.
Books were new and secondhand. Books were engaging and classified in traditional subjects with a "miscellaneous" section for oddments. There were dyslexic-friendly books in the children's section. The shop was small (a narrowboat sized) so it didn't have a great variety. Book prices seemed average.
73. Jews Court Bookshop is at 2-3 Steep Hill. It is well worth a visit if you're interested in things ancient or literary.
It is run by the Lincolnshire Society for Archeology and History, staffed by volunteers. Many books have been donated by the Society and reflect the members themselves, well-preserved, and idiosyncratic. The books are often surprisingly cheap. The range of books is of course limited to history and literature. There is an extensive collection of books stored away for events.
The Society also publishes books.
74. The Arboretum Bookshop is at 123 Monks Road, about 10 minutes walk to the east of the marketplace. The shop is a converted house. If it seems closed try pushing open the door. The owner hasn't replaced many of the broken fluorescent lights. She's waiting until they've all gone and will replace them together.
The owner has been collecting books from auctions since she was young. Eventually she had too many books for her house and so swapped it with the 123 Monks Road twenty-five years ago, which had just ceased trading as a freezer business. People also donate unwanted books.
Books are not curated so much as presented to the public as a piece of conceptual art. Some books face spine inwards so only page leaves can be seen. The owner says she knows where subjects are, but titles are not visible so this cannot be verified. The only certainty is that there are a lot of books in a space just bigger than a narrowboat. It it were a narrowboat, it would sink due to the weight of books. It also smells damp.
Book prices are standard for the area: about £2 for a paperback. The owner is elderly and I suspect she may retire before long.
I look forward to reading about your adventures in Norfolk next week! I prefer the chaotic bookshop - I'm sure you will find some in Norfolk - I still like the SI Unit for bookshop size you have adopted - the narrowboat! Happy travels.
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