Ludlow book shop moves premises

A well known book shop in Ludlow has moved into bigger premises in the town.

The book shop, which used to be housed in a room at the back of Renaissance in Tower Street, is popular for classic books and, at times, extremely rare books too.

It has moved across the walkway at the back of the store into the former flea market shop opposite.

James Cooper, operations manager for The Furniture Scheme which runs the shop, said: “We have a dedicated team of volunteers who completed the move in one afternoon, so the shop wasn’t affected much at all.

“The move is a real step forward giving extra space and a better shopping environment for people who want to browse the wide collection we have on sale.

“The book shop has been open for 10 years and we have visitors from Hay-On-Wye, world renowned for books and bookshops, who said this is the best bookshop outside of that town.

“The people of South Shropshire have played a vital role in creating the bookshop, without them it couldn’t have happened.

“We appreciate the donations of a wide variety of books and would continue to welcome them, especially as we have more space to house more books now.

“They have helped us create a book department head and shoulders above the others and we are excited for this new era.”

From the £900 Rambles by Yorkshire Rivers book to an entire library of Greek and Latin classics, there have been some very exciting times in the shop.

The book shop has been moved in order to free up room at Renaissance for a permanent gallery of local art.

The gallery room will try to accommodate any local artists that want to be featured and will also give artists the opportunity to paint on site and meet customers.

This stems from a successful pop up gallery in November and will be opening later this month.

“This move has allowed us to offer so much more at Renaissance,” said James.

“We will still have clothes on sale in the room above the new book shop, with items being donated by the public as well as pre-loved clothing specialists Expensive Mistakes.”

The Furniture Scheme was launched over 20 years ago as a way to ensure some of the most excluded members of the community could benefit from recycled household items.

It now runs Rockspring Community Centre in Sandford Road, Ludlow, and the Craven Arms Community Centre in Newington Way, Craven Arms.

Activities include computer courses, carpentry workshops, volunteering in the garden, a holiday scheme for young people, weekly community lunches and a choir.

 Picture: Julie Nash, retail manager of Renaissance