A SECOND-HAND National Trust bookshop is going from strength to strength after several years of business.
The bookshop, at Winchester City Mill, in Bridge Street, is run by welcome services assistants Claire Tyrrell and Emma Sumpster.
The shop opened five years ago, just before the Covid-19 pandemic, and is located just inside the mill’s front door.
Claire said: “It opened just before Covid. It is doing much better; we have more people coming in for the bookshop than people just visiting the National Trust.
“Emma and I both love books, so we spend a lot of time on the displays.”
READ MORE: National Trust: Winchester City Mill keeping festive spirit alive
Emma said: “All National Trust bookshops are different, and they can be located in different places, they can be in barns for example.
"This is our visitor reception centre, where people walk into. Some people think we still have a shop, but with local people, we are definitely becoming as much of a place for people to come for second-hand books as they do the Mill itself.
“It’s great because people can come in here, shop for second-hand books, but then it’s a free admission site, so people can go upstairs and go into the mill.
“As my manager says, there’s strong ‘cause messaging’, because you can go downstairs, see the old wheel isn’t working at the moment, realise we are raising money to get it fixed, and obviously it is then a cyclical thing where you’re buying books and the money is coming straight back to this property and it goes towards the property.”
The pair have worked to display the second-hand books in interesting ways, including a Brooker Prize display, a world fiction area, a recommended area, and a curve of books by the front door.
SEE ALSO: Twenty-four-hour gym to open in Winnall industrial estate in March
"We rely heavily on donations and some people don’t realise that we’re here; there are a lot of second-hand book shops in town.
“But it’s great and we love donations because that’s what we rely on.”
Claire said: “We’re lucky because we have the book shop and we do like books, so we spend our time curating it and making it look good, but also keeping it fresh as well.”
Share