The Urmston Bookshop Revisited

It’s that time of year again. I need to top up my supply of “further reading” for my second year undergraduate course “Intro to Children’s Literature”. To some extent I do this as I go along and meet new books throughout the year.  Yet a visit to a bookshop gives a real sense of what’s available and what is deemed to be popular. We’re always on the lookout for the next classic.  In children’s lit the boundary between the classic and the popular is a little less well defined as in adult literature. So, it’s good to see what people are buying and what the bookshop is risking. It’s particularly good to do this at an independent bookshop. That’s where true book lovers go.

The Urmston book shop, of course also has an excellent little café, providing good tea and coffee and locally sourced cake.

So, what better way to spend an afternoon: select a few books, then select a piece of cake and a pot of tea and settle down to start reading the books. I can really recommend the carrot cake. 

The café has changed since I was last there. It has moved into the events room so is a little bigger that the two tables set up in the corridor to the room. The cake display and kitchen is still there.

There are still plenty of events and book clubs.

Really worth a visit. I’m just looking for the next excuse. I’m very tempted by a couple of the events anyway.            

Urmston Book Shop

I visited this delightful bookshop on a warm Thursday afternoon a couple of weeks before the schools broke up for the summer. It was deliciously quiet in there. A backdoor was open and a refreshing breeze made both the shop and the café bearable.

I first met owners Frances and Peter Hopkins when they supplied the books for the Prestwich Bookfest. It’s clear that they work very hard, and that owning an independent bookshop is very demanding and is about more than selling books.

The bookshop hosts several reading groups, holds book launches and photographic exhibitions and occasional film nights. There is a back room and this is sometimes hired out for meetings and workshops.

The café is tiny but a real treat. There are just a few what I would call proper bistort tables and attractive olive-green folding chairs.  The cakes are pretty but delicious, too. They are supplied by local independent enterprises - The Bear Who Bakes, Elaine’s Creative Cakes and Urmston cakes. I settled for the lemon drizzle and one of the best cups of tea I ever drunk.

My purpose was two-fold in visiting the shop that day. I wanted to buy some books for a course I’m teaching next year. I also wanted to check out the café and see if it passed muster. I’m pleased to say the café is joining the project.  It’s good also to support an independent bookshop Sure, I buy books and sell my own via Amazon – and don’t have a guilty conscience about that. But it’s good to go into a bookshop and browse – especially when you’re looking for picture books.

I hope the Hopkins will be able to carry on for many more years.