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8 April 2005 Atherstone BooktownAtherstone, on the Coventry Canal, is next in line for the 'Booktown' treatment - according to the Independent. Hay-on-Wye was, of course, Britain's first booktown. Wigtown in Dumfries & Galloway has since followed; as has, most recently, Blaenavon in the Valleys. I've not been to Wigtown, but Blaenavon's a marvel. Yes, the town itself has clearly been run down over many years. But whereas (say) many of Somerset's rural towns seem to have little idea how to halt their decline, with Poundstretchers at every corner and empty shops in between, Blaenavon is clearly on the way to recovery. It's even at the uphill end of a Sustrans cycling route, so you can pedal up from Newport railway station, load your panniers with books, and freewheel back to the train. (Incidentally, I'm surprised that places like Bridgwater and Frome aren't at least Objective Two areas - this map, in completely unnecessary Word format, refers.) And Atherstone? It's a while since I've been there, but the trick, I'd think, would be to secure premises that would attract both canal customers and Booktown visitors. Neither M&M Baldwin nor Patterson Liddle are canalside, except twice a year when Mark decamps to Crick or the National. A waterside waterway bookshop with a sprinkling of general-interest titles and canal paraphernalia should go down a storm. (Footnote: I suppose Uppingham was almost a booktown once. In the early 90s, Goldmarks, Forest, the Rutland Bookshop, and Just Books were all selling secondhand books, with Uppingham Sports & Books and Not Just Books keeping up the new book market. Nowadays, only US&B, Forest, and the Rutland Bookshop are left. Fortunately, Forest has always been the best of the lot.) Comments | |
