tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post259871069819679946..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Hay on Wye, Town of Kindles? - Katherine RobertsKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-83968531536120793902017-07-21T18:39:58.166+01:002017-07-21T18:39:58.166+01:00Yes, I understand that the Scottish Borders are a ...Yes, I understand that the Scottish Borders are a rather magical place, like the Welsh border used to be before parts of it (like Hay-on-Wye) got "discovered".<br /><br />I think all borders are magical places - there's always a chance that if you go sideways at just the right moment, you might end up in Narnia... <br />Katherine Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-67196633064622121422017-07-21T14:01:41.867+01:002017-07-21T14:01:41.867+01:00Try Wigtown in the Scottish Borders - it still has...Try Wigtown in the Scottish Borders - it still has great charm with eleven bookshops round the village green where the 'big tent' is. Late night hot chocolate in a bookshop while listening to a bedtime story being read; a created mezzanine floor with single bed, wee table and reading lamp in 'THE BOOKSHOP' - you can book (pardon the pun) to spend the night; pop-up gourmet food stalls after the chef has been the 'author' at an event; and so on. Brilliant fun. But book accommodation. early - it's just a wee place and it's becoming very popular. Fran Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13497526684591168192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-42524280686070719222017-07-21T12:43:22.863+01:002017-07-21T12:43:22.863+01:00A lovely post, Katharine. so many country places h...A lovely post, Katharine. so many country places have 'benefited' from the kind of trendy gentrification that just makes so many of them look the same. A shame that even Hay is going that way - not to mention the hike in prices. <br />Ali BAliBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611113709872287863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-72134111127425104252017-07-21T11:06:14.484+01:002017-07-21T11:06:14.484+01:00Thanks for these memories of Hay-on Wye and the cu...Thanks for these memories of Hay-on Wye and the current improvements (and prices), and your thoughts on the passing of browsing bookshelves. I've been there a couple of times during the season, but was too busy with other commitments to do much browsing. <br /><br />Tourists can be a mixed blessing, as the grumpy bookseller in Hawes has found out. His rudeness to the too-passing browsers made national news and he has now gone. Whether the shop will survive under the Town Council's "polite new owners" is another matter. I fear the bookshop is seen a good shelter from the rain by the wandering coach parties, so I half-sympathise with his charge of "50p if you're browsing but taken off the book price if you buy."<br /><br />London's Charing Cross Road - home to the "84 Charing Cross Road" book be Helene Hanff - used to have several outdoor browsing bookshops too. Probably that was when the universal raincoat had pockets big enough to carry a paperback.<br /><br />My town, not as far north as Hawes, was known for second-hand books, but only one such bookshop remains, at least of the kind that smells of old books and interesting discoveries. The smart but cheap-to-run Oxfam bookshop swallowed up the other outlets, with the remaining charity shops hosting used blockbusters and sagas. No bookish romance there. <br /><br />We do have a recently upgraded Waterstones-with-cafe and a small, hopeful independent is opening this weekend, but of course all those titles are new. Occasionally, opening up a "Used but in Good Condition" parcel from one of the on-line book suppliers, I still catch that scent of what's now "a pre-loved book".<br /><br />Heavens, how the thought of all those disappearing bookshelves has made me witter on! Right, coffee!Penny Dolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com