Day 19 - Hunting

Today I hunted down some bookshops I'd missed earlier. 

Cromer

107. Bookworms is at 9, New Street. It opens at 10am, so I visited it before leaving Cromer. 

Bookworms is on the ground floor of a converted house. It is nearly two narrowboats in size. The carpets on the floor and the layout keeps the shop quiet. I enjoyed noise-free browsing. 

There seemed to be books on all topics, including small sections on mind-body-spirit, New Age religion, politics, science, local history, and of course fiction. Books were reasonably priced. There are no section labels, but the owner is approachable. Book titles are interesting. 

The owner, a healthy and slender lady probably in her sixties, runs it with her son. She couldn't remember when she opened it but it has been "a long time". Sales fell when eBooks and online shopping became popular, but they have improved in the past four years. "People are so pleased to find a real bookshop!" she commented.

Popular topics in Cromer seem to be paganism and divination. Keeping up with demand can be troublesome. She has 'book runners' that help find good books. 

Not all topics are covered in the shop. She refuses to sell books on hunting or guns because she disapproves of blood sports. Nor does she sell pornography. She has always been very active politically and used to take part in demonstrations with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. On Friday she'll be in London to support Extinction Rebellion. 

Ely

108. Waterside Antiques is at Waterside in Ely. This runs as an antiques cooperative. Two stalls are owned by separate bookshops. Their owners weren't present. 

On the first floor is a shop owned by Hereward Books in Haddenham, near Ely. Strangely, he only sells books on hunting, shooting, and fishing. However, the antiques shop is for overflow books on other topics. 

The size of the section is about 3/4 narrowboats. Books have antiquarian prices and titles are interesting. There are a number of books on local history and random titles like the ones shown above.

On the second floor is another book section, but the man at the front desk didn't know which shop maintains this section.  

The area has more books but is only 1/2 narrowboat in size. The topics are categorised. There are many biographies, self-instruction and health books. The building is usually quite empty so it is easy to browse at leisure. Prices are very good.