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Post by humgoo on Jun 4, 2021 9:19:28 GMT
Not in the same league as the above but one of my all-time favourite haunts. This is Slater Street, Bethnal Green, London E2, just around the corner from Shoreditch Station, and behind the benches is where friend Richard sets up his stall every Sunday. Sometimes - usualy when it's raining - he'll flog DVD's. Other times it will be exclusively rock posters. But mostly it's books and if your luck is with you, its tray upon tray of pre-battered paperbacks. Accursed "regeneration" (shorthand for gentrification) has done for much of Slater Street in recent years and the market is almost certainly living on borrowed time, but if you're passing on a Sunday morning/ early afternoon, you might like to give the car-park a whirl. Apropos of nothing (just re-reading this thread, one of my favourites), does this market still exist?
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Post by dem bones on Jun 4, 2021 9:47:20 GMT
Apropos of nothing (just re-reading this thread, one of my favourites), does this market still exist? Just about hanging on grimly. Sunday mornings only. A Dem happy hunting ground, though sweeping "regeneration" (trans: yuppification) draws ever closer.
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Post by helrunar on Jun 4, 2021 13:27:01 GMT
Early this morning I again had a recurrent dream that I'm in a bookshop and find a cache of fabulous Pagan zines and pamphlets from the 1960s or 1970s, all at extraordinarily low prices. This instance of the dream went on quite a while. The goodies were sitting on a shelf inside a sort of large shoebox but because it was a dream, I didn't stop to ask myself why it looked as if the inventory person hadn't even gone through them. There were cassette tapes as well as books and mags. One of the books was bound in a cerise colored fabric with a kind of pattern stamped on it that made me think of furniture upholstery. After going through all of it, I took my haul up to the cash register and had a pleasant chat with the guy manning the till and another individual. A couple of the mags were from Scandinavia, I think, and had to do with the old Norse Gods.
I was actually thinking "For once, this isn't a dream--I really found these books! And I'm going to take them home and have lots of fun working through them. And the pandemic is over so we can all relax without masks on."
Then I woke up.
H.
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Jun 4, 2021 13:34:18 GMT
Early this morning I again had a recurrent dream that I'm in a bookshop and find a cache of fabulous Pagan zines and pamphlets from the 1960s or 1970s, all at extraordinarily low prices. This instance of the dream went on quite a while. The goodies were sitting on a shelf inside a sort of large shoebox but because it was a dream, I didn't stop to ask myself why it looked as if the inventory person hadn't even gone through them. There were cassette tapes as well as books and mags. One of the books was bound in a cerise colored fabric with a kind of pattern stamped on it that made me think of furniture upholstery. After going through all of it, I took my haul up to the cash register and had a pleasant chat with the guy manning the till and another individual. A couple of the mags were from Scandinavia, I think, and had to do with the old Norse Gods. I was actually thinking "For once, this isn't a dream--I really found these books! And I'm going to take them home and have lots of fun working through them. And the pandemic is over so we can all relax without masks on." Then I woke up. H. I'm sure one day it will happen. High Cockalorum!
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Post by Swampirella on Jun 4, 2021 14:01:21 GMT
Early this morning I again had a recurrent dream that I'm in a bookshop and find a cache of fabulous Pagan zines and pamphlets from the 1960s or 1970s, all at extraordinarily low prices. This instance of the dream went on quite a while. The goodies were sitting on a shelf inside a sort of large shoebox but because it was a dream, I didn't stop to ask myself why it looked as if the inventory person hadn't even gone through them. There were cassette tapes as well as books and mags. One of the books was bound in a cerise colored fabric with a kind of pattern stamped on it that made me think of furniture upholstery. After going through all of it, I took my haul up to the cash register and had a pleasant chat with the guy manning the till and another individual. A couple of the mags were from Scandinavia, I think, and had to do with the old Norse Gods. I was actually thinking "For once, this isn't a dream--I really found these books! And I'm going to take them home and have lots of fun working through them. And the pandemic is over so we can all relax without masks on." Then I woke up. H. Sorry it was only a dream, Steve! I've had very similar dreams myself, although not as detailed as yours. I think I also thought to myself "This isn't a dream". If only we could all wake from the nightmare we've been in for over a year.
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Post by dem bones on Jun 4, 2021 17:29:39 GMT
Been informed that, against all odds, the superb Gerry's Posters, Comics. DVDs emporium in Westbourne has re-opened post lockdown. "Your [pause] ... friend's shop was open today. He had boxes of books outside on the street, too. It's not for me. Perhaps if he tidied it up, more [pause; sniff] .... respectable people would use it. Hello ... Hell - are you still there?"
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Post by helrunar on Jun 4, 2021 17:33:40 GMT
And after shopping, you can troll along to Julian's Bona Hair Salon and have a chat with the proprietor and his friend Sandy.
Bookshops reopening is fab news, especially when they also sell posters and other goodies!
H.
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Post by dem bones on Jun 4, 2021 17:57:59 GMT
And after shopping, you can troll along to Julian's Bona Hair Salon and have a chat with the proprietor and his friend Sandy. Bookshops reopening is fab news, especially when they also sell posters and other goodies! H. Juliani's been fine the few times I've spoken to him. Seems a friendly corner of the world. There's a pop-up pub directly opposite the bookshop for emergencies. So looking forward to next time I can get down there.
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Jun 9, 2021 11:45:54 GMT
And after shopping, you can troll along to Julian's Bona Hair Salon and have a chat with the proprietor and his friend Sandy. Bookshops reopening is fab news, especially when they also sell posters and other goodies! H. Juliani's been fine the few times I've spoken to him. Seems a friendly corner of the world. There's a pop-up pub directly opposite the bookshop for emergencies. So looking forward to next time I can get down there. Please ask Julian and Kenneth Williams look-alike Sandy in your best Polari why they have a 10 foot tall woman in their window staring at passers-by. I feel this is somewhat unnerving to small men.
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Post by Swampirella on Jun 9, 2021 14:01:22 GMT
Juliani's been fine the few times I've spoken to him. Seems a friendly corner of the world. There's a pop-up pub directly opposite the bookshop for emergencies. So looking forward to next time I can get down there. Please ask Julian and Kenneth Williams look-alike Sandy in your best Polari why they have a 10 foot tall woman in their window staring at passers-by. I feel this is somewhat unnerving to small men. If I hadn't read a book about Polari very recently, I would have had to look that up & then read it. Be that as it may, it looks like a cozy little place.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Oct 18, 2021 11:49:08 GMT
One that's definitely in the running for the most remote second hand bookshop in the British Isles is the Kergord Hatchery Bookshop. Housed in a renovated building that had stood empty for a few years but had originally been a trout hatchery, miles from miles from nowhere in Shetland. Run by a very sociable lady who is an ex-GP, it covers all genres from Thomas the Tank Engine to antiquarian - time was tight, but during a fairly brief visit I found a breeze-block sized 18th century bible, a Victorian volume of Scottish ghost stories, a biography of The Doors and a guide to the architecture of the Netherlands. Not to mention the life-sized patchwork cow that guards the front door. You get the idea. Like all good secondhand bookshops though, the main thing is the enthusiasm of the proprietor for the books. There's a horror section that's good for its small size, and quite remarkable that it exists at all considering the location. I picked up copies of Mary Danby's "65 Great Tales of Horror" and Joan Aiken's "A Touch of Chill - Stories of Horror, Suspense and Fantasy" after a browse. Oddly, the only other building within a mile of the place is an old water mill on the other side of the road that's been converted into an art gallery with a worthwhile cafe. It should really be listed under "definitely one to see if you happen to be in the area", though it's hard to think of Shetland in those terms.
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Post by Swampirella on Oct 18, 2021 11:56:49 GMT
One that's definitely in the running for the most remote second hand bookshop in the British Isles is the Kergord Hatchery Bookshop. Housed in a renovated building that had stood empty for a few years but had originally been a trout hatchery, miles from miles from nowhere in Shetland. Run by a very sociable lady who is an ex-GP, it covers all genres from Thomas the Tank Engine to antiquarian - time was tight, but during a fairly brief visit I found a breeze-block sized 18th century bible, a Victorian volume of Scottish ghost stories, a biography of The Doors and a guide to the architecture of the Netherlands. Not to mention the life-sized patchwork cow that guards the front door. You get the idea. Like all good secondhand bookshops though, the main thing is the enthusiasm of the proprietor for the books. There's a horror section that's good for its small size, and quite remarkable that it exists at all considering the location. I picked up copies of Mary Danby's "65 Great Tales of Horror" and Joan Aiken's "A Touch of Chill - Stories of Horror, Suspense and Fantasy" after a browse. Oddly, the only other building within a mile of the place is an old water mill on the other side of the road that's been converted into an art gallery with a worthwhile cafe. It should really be listed under "definitely one to see if you happen to be in the area", though it's hard to think of Shetland in those terms. Sounds like a wonderful place, Shrink! But, no photo of the "life-sized patchwork cow"?
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Post by Shrink Proof on Oct 18, 2021 12:17:20 GMT
Sounds like a wonderful place, Shrink! But, no photo of the "life-sized patchwork cow"? Best I can do, sorry....
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Post by Swampirella on Oct 18, 2021 12:37:08 GMT
Thanks very much anyhow; if I ever decide to visit Shetland I'll be sure to go. Used books & (potentially dangerous) prehistoric standing stones sound like good enough reasons to make the effort.
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Oct 18, 2021 12:48:34 GMT
One that's definitely in the running for the most remote second hand bookshop in the British Isles is the Kergord Hatchery Bookshop. Housed in a renovated building that had stood empty for a few years but had originally been a trout hatchery, miles from miles from nowhere in Shetland. Run by a very sociable lady who is an ex-GP, it covers all genres from Thomas the Tank Engine to antiquarian - time was tight, but during a fairly brief visit I found a breeze-block sized 18th century bible, a Victorian volume of Scottish ghost stories, a biography of The Doors and a guide to the architecture of the Netherlands. Not to mention the life-sized patchwork cow that guards the front door. You get the idea. Like all good secondhand bookshops though, the main thing is the enthusiasm of the proprietor for the books. There's a horror section that's good for its small size, and quite remarkable that it exists at all considering the location. I picked up copies of Mary Danby's "65 Great Tales of Horror" and Joan Aiken's "A Touch of Chill - Stories of Horror, Suspense and Fantasy" after a browse. Oddly, the only other building within a mile of the place is an old water mill on the other side of the road that's been converted into an art gallery with a worthwhile cafe. It should really be listed under "definitely one to see if you happen to be in the area", though it's hard to think of Shetland in those terms. Sounds like a wonderful place, Shrink! But, no photo of the "life-sized patchwork cow"? From here: www.facebook.com/KergordHatcheryBooks/
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