Today I visited Hastings, St Leonards, and Eastbourne. These seaside towns are suffering the effects of austerity - cuts to public services and welfare benefits. Some of the bookshops had closed down. Some will close soon as owners don't earn enough live on, and they will lose benefits under the Universal Tax Credit rules.
Someone working in house conveyancing in Brighton also told me that house prices are starting to fall, "because of Brexit".
The shop is the size of a small office. It is caters for local people's interests. This part of East Sussex is a radical area so it has lots of left wing political books, some children's books and some fiction. Titles are very engaging but the range is limited. The books are new.
Books are not selling well in Hastings. Lee's lease is up for renewal next June. He may not renew, depending on trade.
81. Bookbuster is at 39 Queens Road. This sells secondhand and remaindered stock. It's about the size of a narrowboat. It has a good range including left wing politics and esoteric spiritual books, along with fiction and classics. The shop is carpeted and it is easy to browse. Tim, the owner, is friendly. He doesn't need much prompting to share his views about the failings of the political classes.
Tim has run the shop for six years. He has noticed a fall in sales since The Works opened opposite him, which also sells remainder books. Tim too may eventually have to close the shop as a consequence of benefit changes.
82. Albion Bookshop is at 34 George Street, five minutes walk from Queens Road. Many shops in George Street open at 11am. Albion Bookshop opens around 11:30 as the owner has to get the books out and he has a limp.
Usually I estimate a bookshop size by count paces across the floor. This shop didn't seem to have a floor.
It was less like a bookshop; more like a crime scene.
There were some islands of order within the scene. There were books on transport, esoteric religions, fiction , the Second World War and the Third Reich. I suspect the owner needs help from a curator.
83. The Hare and Hawthorn Bookshop is a 51, George Street. It also opens at 11am, or slightly after. This has been going for a year. It started as a bookbinders and bookshop, but dropped the bookbinding to give more space and time to the bookshop.
The bookshop is quite small and spacious. It's about the size of a narrowboat. At the back of the shop are cards, calligraphy pens, quill pens and gifts. The owner said this helps bring in customers.
The shop was a local bookshop and seemed quite popular with customers. I asked him why he'd called it "Hare and Hawthorn". He didn't know. He thought it sounded nice.
84. The Corner Bookshop is between White Rock and Schwerte Way. It is on the way from Hastings to St Leonards. It sells secondhand books. Unfortunately Wednesday is the day it's closed and today is Wednesday.
85. The Book Jungle was at 24, North Street. Like The Corner Bookshop, it was also closed but for different reasons:
86. The Scarlet Pimpernel "They seek him here, they seek him there. Those Frenchies seek him everywhere" (from Baroness Emmuska Orczy). The Scarlet Pimpernel is actually at 25 London Road in St Leonards. He's a disgruntled French guy who doesn't like internet sales. I asked what brought him to England twenty years ago to open a bookshop. He said it was a long story. Given that his short story about internet sales took an hour, I didn't want to pursue the long story.
Mr Pimpernel owns this antiquarian bookshop. He does a lot of trade on the internet. Books are well catalogued and stacked high on two floors, totalling about four narrowboats in size.
Books were priced on an antiquarian scale, so is expensive to those who treat books as reading things.
Mr Pimpernel been collecting books for many years. He says you have to wait a long time for books to become more valuable. Although he was probably past retirement age he had no intention of retiring soon. When he wasn't disgrunting, he was quite entertaining.
Books are on three large floors, totalling around six narrowboats. There were another two floors that were not open to the public but were filled with books to be sold on the internet. The shop has been going since 1987. It is well curated and books are cheaper than they should be. There are over one million books in the shop I was told. The range of topics covered was vast. I saw maths, science and engineering books I thought I'd never see again.
Being so big I asked the shopkeeper if anyone had ever been locked in overnight by mistake. Yes, he said. It has sometimes happened and the police complain. Locked in a shop overnight with a million books to read, at least the customer would leave a little bit older and a little bit wiser.
88. The Cookshelf was at 2, North Street. It sold cookery books. It went out of business on 9th April 2019.
89. Magazine Brighton is at 22 Trafalgar Street. It was set up to sell magazines and to provide an outlet to students who want to sell magazines. It also seems to have some books.
It was the size of a small office. It is quite popular with students. It is an example of a shop being a useful community resource and succeeding because it's more than a shop. The items were very attractive and yes, I did end up buying a magazine about books.
Someone working in house conveyancing in Brighton also told me that house prices are starting to fall, "because of Brexit".
Hastings
80. Printed Matter Bookshop is at 185 Queens Road, five minutes walk from Hastings train station. Owner Lee has run it for two years since leaving a prison resettlement scheme in London where he worked with vulnerable adults. Changes to welfare benefits affected his scheme so Lee started the bookshop.
The shop is the size of a small office. It is caters for local people's interests. This part of East Sussex is a radical area so it has lots of left wing political books, some children's books and some fiction. Titles are very engaging but the range is limited. The books are new.
Books are not selling well in Hastings. Lee's lease is up for renewal next June. He may not renew, depending on trade.
81. Bookbuster is at 39 Queens Road. This sells secondhand and remaindered stock. It's about the size of a narrowboat. It has a good range including left wing politics and esoteric spiritual books, along with fiction and classics. The shop is carpeted and it is easy to browse. Tim, the owner, is friendly. He doesn't need much prompting to share his views about the failings of the political classes.
Tim has run the shop for six years. He has noticed a fall in sales since The Works opened opposite him, which also sells remainder books. Tim too may eventually have to close the shop as a consequence of benefit changes.
82. Albion Bookshop is at 34 George Street, five minutes walk from Queens Road. Many shops in George Street open at 11am. Albion Bookshop opens around 11:30 as the owner has to get the books out and he has a limp.
Usually I estimate a bookshop size by count paces across the floor. This shop didn't seem to have a floor.
It was less like a bookshop; more like a crime scene.
There were some islands of order within the scene. There were books on transport, esoteric religions, fiction , the Second World War and the Third Reich. I suspect the owner needs help from a curator.
83. The Hare and Hawthorn Bookshop is a 51, George Street. It also opens at 11am, or slightly after. This has been going for a year. It started as a bookbinders and bookshop, but dropped the bookbinding to give more space and time to the bookshop.
The bookshop is quite small and spacious. It's about the size of a narrowboat. At the back of the shop are cards, calligraphy pens, quill pens and gifts. The owner said this helps bring in customers.
The shop was a local bookshop and seemed quite popular with customers. I asked him why he'd called it "Hare and Hawthorn". He didn't know. He thought it sounded nice.
St Leonards On Sea
St Leonards is about ten minutes walk from Hastings, along the sea. It has a busy town centre. It is also suffering from financial problems.
85. The Book Jungle was at 24, North Street. Like The Corner Bookshop, it was also closed but for different reasons:
86. The Scarlet Pimpernel "They seek him here, they seek him there. Those Frenchies seek him everywhere" (from Baroness Emmuska Orczy). The Scarlet Pimpernel is actually at 25 London Road in St Leonards. He's a disgruntled French guy who doesn't like internet sales. I asked what brought him to England twenty years ago to open a bookshop. He said it was a long story. Given that his short story about internet sales took an hour, I didn't want to pursue the long story.
Mr Pimpernel owns this antiquarian bookshop. He does a lot of trade on the internet. Books are well catalogued and stacked high on two floors, totalling about four narrowboats in size.
Books were priced on an antiquarian scale, so is expensive to those who treat books as reading things.
Mr Pimpernel been collecting books for many years. He says you have to wait a long time for books to become more valuable. Although he was probably past retirement age he had no intention of retiring soon. When he wasn't disgrunting, he was quite entertaining.
Eastbourne
87. Camilla's Bookshop is at 57 Grove Road. When I entered this shop most of my childhood books flashed before my eyes. This is not because I had died. Most of my childhood books were on the shelves and flashing before my eyes. It is absolutely packed with books. I have not seen a greater collection of secondhand books.
Books are on three large floors, totalling around six narrowboats. There were another two floors that were not open to the public but were filled with books to be sold on the internet. The shop has been going since 1987. It is well curated and books are cheaper than they should be. There are over one million books in the shop I was told. The range of topics covered was vast. I saw maths, science and engineering books I thought I'd never see again.
Being so big I asked the shopkeeper if anyone had ever been locked in overnight by mistake. Yes, he said. It has sometimes happened and the police complain. Locked in a shop overnight with a million books to read, at least the customer would leave a little bit older and a little bit wiser.
88. The Cookshelf was at 2, North Street. It sold cookery books. It went out of business on 9th April 2019.
Brighton
I shall carry on with Brighton and Lewes tomorrow, but today I visited one bookshop in Brighton.
89. Magazine Brighton is at 22 Trafalgar Street. It was set up to sell magazines and to provide an outlet to students who want to sell magazines. It also seems to have some books.
It was the size of a small office. It is quite popular with students. It is an example of a shop being a useful community resource and succeeding because it's more than a shop. The items were very attractive and yes, I did end up buying a magazine about books.
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