High Barn Books

08/06/2026

We have been visiting bookshops in Hay for well over 50 years and it never fails to impress. Really busy on a fine Saturday in June with lots of shoppers poring over the shelves. Here is a random selection of pictures from the day.

05/06/2026

On the journey south to Hay on Wye, a quick stop at the lovely town of Church Stretton led us to Burway Books, a truly fabulous bookstore, which manages to house in a fairly small space a wonderful and eclectic selection of new books. This shop has been in business for over 50 years and seems very much ready for another 50.

04/06/2026

Opening tomorrow!

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👉 https://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/york/

03/06/2026

30/05/2026

There is much to enjoy in Morecambe on a sunny Saturday afternoon, not least the bulging shelves of The Old Pier Bookshop, which never fails to turn up something of interest, particularly if you have a liking for vintage paperbacks.

26/05/2026

The heroines of J Sheridan Le Fanu’s novels rarely have an easy life and it is Maud Vernon’s fate in his late novel ‘The Rose and the Key’ to be committed to an asylum by her implacably tyrannical mother. It all makes for a harrowing read till order is restored in the final pages and Maud emerges stronger for the experience for the inevitable happy marriage. It was first serialised in Dicken’s ’All the Year Round’ in 1871, but is the equal of many of today’s thrillers for suspense.

16/05/2026

The village of West Wemyss on the Fife coast, overlooking the Firth of Forth, was unnaturally quiet this morning. However, since this village houses the headquarters of Scottish Paranormal, it just maybe that we were not sufficiently open to the other side to see the residents.

13/05/2026

The attractive town of Moffat in the Scottish Borders has a relatively small, but well stocked bookshop, mainly secondhand. We always check it out when in the area.