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The shop has many extra features: open fires in the Winter, beloved by all. Coffee and cookies. A model railway acting as a link between the book columns of the central room. A mini-cybercafé (well, two computers!). Generous seating. A children's room with enough toys to allow parents and grandparents to browse elsewhere in peace. (Or so we hope.) And a whole huge room lined with glass cases containing many of the more interesting antiquarian books. (There are no rooms in the bookshop, by the way, that are open to some and not to others.)
Preservation and Restoration: because of its architecture and history, the owners have done what they can (and felt privileged to do so) to restore and enhance their holding - as and when they could afford to. To that end, the lovely old canopy outside has been re-exposed, the fireplaces put back into working order, a missing skylight glassed in, rooms replastered and repainted. All of which, to our pleasure, has brought, after an absence of thirty years, public life back to a building that was made for it.
But there's still much work to be done. And probably always will be. Just as Stuart dreams of restoring the working train, for example, I dream of restoring the entire glass roof. And we both dream of having the time to just read a book.
Stuart Manley was born in County Durham during the Second World War. His professional background always revolved around business. Within the bookshop, Stuart is basically responsible for the general business management, including the Barter Books website. Outside interests include cricket, railways, (English) football, and cash flows. 
Mary Manley was born in Missouri even earlier (alas!) than Stuart. (But, please note, only slightly earlier.) Mary's professional background was almost exclusively academic. Within the bookshop, Mary is basically responsible for the general organisation, ambience, and marketing. Outside interests include almost everything but cricket, railways, (English) football, and cash flows.
Finally, Stuart and Mary Manley's partnership has been based on a very happy counterbalance of strengths and weaknesses. This, tied in with a very real enthusiasm for the business as a whole, has allowed them (at last) to pay off that overdraft.
About the staff: Our mainstay - hard-working, loyal, remarkable, wonderful, especially Keith 'the van'. And remarkably eclectic - perhaps like the shop, itself. There is a manager. But no 'boss'. We have hired temporary help as young as 16 and as old as 76. Politics range from Left of centre through to Right of centre and all points in between. And, so far, everyone seems to have survived. (Well, perhaps a bit of shouting here and there, but nothing serious.) Professional backgrounds, too, are equally wide-ranging - from those you might expect (artists, teachers) to those you might not (the RAF, coal mining). As for accents, well, currently, there's North of England, Irish, London, Cornwall, and, yes, American. We like this.
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The building: Barter Books is lucky to be located in part of a superb old Victorian railway station designed by William Bell in 1887. At 32, 000 sq. ft, the building is one of remarkable size and grandeur for a small market town.
We have compiled an historical tour of the building which you may follow here.
The interior: the bookshop is made up, principally, of seven rooms. Our entrance was the old Station Parcels' Room, which still has the open window with bars through which passengers would buy railway tickets. Just beyond that window was the original Station entrance, now a Children's Room.
Off one side of this room and directly opposite what is now the Children's Room is the newly restored old Waiting Room which remains a place for the public just to sit, read newspapers, enjoy the open fire, drink coffee - and just get away from it all. Flanking this room is the biggest room of the shop, part of the old outgoing platform where the trains stopped. (The demarcations of the well for the tracks, now filled in with concrete, are still clearly visible.) Finally, off this long room, is the former Ladies First Class Waiting Room, now used as the Oversize Books room, while just opposite is the old Gents First Class Waiting Room, now used for rare books on history and topography.
Where is Barter Books?
Barter Books is easy to get to -
By car: Alnwick is located just off the old and historic London to Edinburgh road (formerly called the Great North Road and now the A1). Roughly midway (c. 35 miles) between Newcastle upon Tyne and the Scottish borders, it is a glorious drive from whichever direction you come, north or south, with the magnificent unspoiled coastline on one side and the Cheviot Hills on the other.
By rail: Whether you come south from Edinburgh's Waverley Station (c. one hour's ride) or north from London's Kings Cross (c. 3 hours), many of the East Coast Main Line trains stop at the nearby coastal village of Alnmouth. Alnmouth is only three miles from Alnwick and is, in itself, a charming coastal village with both taxi and bus service to Alnwick.
By bus: Regular bus services connect Newcastle and Edinburgh with Alnwick. Indeed, there is a bus stop within a few metres walk of Barter Books.
By air: Newcastle upon Tyne airport is about a 40-minute drive to Alnwick.
Harry Brockway's engraving of the Station front:Harry Brockway is one of Britain's foremost artists whose engravings, alone, have graced the works of such diverse writers as the Brontes, Mark Twain, Dostoyevsky, Andrew Marvell, and John Prebble. Brockway's engraving of our Station front, which combines a sure technique with a witty flourish, has had, for us, a wonderful multipurpose use (for two of them, please click onto our Smallish Gift Shop link on our Home Page). Harry Brockway can be reached through the Society of Wood Engravers.
As Stuart and I have never been any good at getting grants (please, someone, tell us your secret), we've financed various projects ourselves, as and when we could. The first and ongoing project is restoring the superb Station building, itself. But other projects have been and are important to us. For example:
The Aln Valley Railway Project: a pet project of Stuart's - the aim of which was and is to restore both the three-mile long Alnmouth - Alnwick branchline and, with it, at least part of the magnificent Station building to its original purpose. Most important, this project, when completed, would have far-reaching practical value: increased tourism; the creation of more jobs and business opportunities; and thanks to the connection with the East Coast Main Line at Alnmouth, a reliable commuter service between the Alnwick area and Newcastle. To so many of us, the whole project, and on so many counts, seemed to be a natural winner from the beginning.
Money for the project was turned down flat by the Heritage Lottery Fund (in favour of, just for starters, the Millennium Dome). European funding did come through - enough to raise hopes - but was lost again when the Lottery refused to match it. The project is now in the hands of the local Council for further development, with the ongoing support of the Aln Valley Railway Trust. It's such a potentially marvellous project, it would seem a natural. All we need (can you help?) is support.
The Website Catalogue: One of Stuart's main projects, this one connected directly to the bookshop, is our very large customer catalogue. This catalogue currently lists over 45,000 books - and rising. So that it now takes several members of staff to maintain and upgrade it. Even so, the catalogue can never contain more than a small fraction of our overall stock, with our book turnover rate being roughly 3000 per week.
Nonetheless, the enthusiastic web team, led by Webmaster Jim Walsh, do their best to bring you a wide range of the best and most interesting books in our stock - with any luck, among them just that book you've been looking for. Furthermore, this growing area of our business is aided by the booksearching metasites such as BookFinder and AddAll, which access our catalogue via our listings on sites such as TomFolio, IOBA, Alibris, Amazon and ABE.
Mary's contributions to the website are design input, the basic text (excluding - thank goodness! - all the thousands of Catalogue entries).
PLEASE DO NOT SEND IN LISTS OF BOOKS FOR SALE – we can do nothing with them. It is hard enough valuing with the books in front of you, but impossible to do so from lists.
In addition, we cannot help with books from distant sources. The notes that follow are intended as guidance for those who are planning to bring books to the bookshop. If you are geographically distant from the bookshop, the notes should still be helpful, but you will need to use a more local bookshop or auction house.
SOME NOTES ON INCOMING BOOKS
Unfortunately, we cannot help with all the books or recordings that we are offered. These notes are written to help you assess what is, and what is not, valuable in the secondhand book and recording business.
(For guidance only ~ demand fluctuates. Condition is also an important factor.)
N.B. Please note that due to sustained overload we are unable to take in large consignments of books. Two carrier bags or one box equivalent per visit is the maximum that we can help with.
BOOKS THAT ARE OF GOOD COMMERCIAL VALUE. (i.e. POSSIBLE CASH OFFER):
BOOKS THAT ARE OF LITTLE OR NO COMMERCIAL VALUE (i.e. BARTER ONLY OFFER AT BEST):
RECORDINGS (N.B. Recordings seeking a cash offer MUST be logged in ~ the offer should be ready for the following day, after they have been checked):
NOTES:
N.B. Any ‘No Offer’ items not removed from the shop by the end of each day will automatically be disposed of, but as we are unable to absorb such stock and the cost of recycling, it is very helpful if you can ensure that you collect any 'No Offer' items.
Home of the original
'Keep Calm and Carry On'
Poster
AA'd Northumbrian Words
Open every day incl. Sundays and all Bank Holidays (apart from Christmas Day):
Summer 9 – 7 • Winter 9 – 5 (Thursday 9 – 7)
(Buffet hours: Summer 10 – 5 • Winter 10 – 4:30)
Barter Books, Alnwick Station, Northumberland NE66 2NP.
+44 (0) 1665 604888 bb@barterbooks.co.uk
