A Box of Books

As I drove through West Bedfordshire after a job I was surprised to spot a mini library in a phone box. That’s four I know of within half an hour from home now. I parked up and jumped out of the car. I've taken to carrying a digital compact camera with me, so I soon had some photos in the bag. A few minutes later I was back in the car and on my way to the next client.

This one, in the small village of Tingrith, is on the High Street opposite the end of church Road. I’m all in favour of anything that encourages reading, so it’s good to see another mini library.

I've already showed you a couple at Woburn and Flitton, both not far from Tingrith and also in Bedfordshire. There’s another I've featured at Gawcott in Buckinghamshire. if you live in or near Milton Keynes can you tell me of any more in the area? I'm almost afraid to ask because I'm running out of puns for the post titles!

Little Red Reader

Main Street, Gawcott, dusk.

It had stopped raining in mid afternoon and the skies had cleared so I’d gone for a ride on the bike. I took the opportunity to go to Hillesden Church to take photos for my other blog but now I was riding home. It was dusk, on the last Sunday in September.

As I rode along Main Street in Gawcott I spotted a phone box mini library and realised what it was immediately. I parked the motorcycle and got the camera out.

Pulp (Science) fiction in a Railway Town

Last Wednesday I popped into Wolverton Books, a few miles from home, and of course bought a few books.

I thought you’d like to hear more about this fine used book shop, so on Friday I went back to the shop to take some photos and talk to the manager, Carrie Bollom.

She has been the manager for nearly two years, and the shop has been there for almost ten, in what was once the Railway Company fire station in Wolverton, Bucks. Wolverton books is part of Milton Keynes Age UK.

Carrie Bullom and some pulp (science) fiction.

Carrie started work at 17 in the H.J. Lears book shop in Cardiff, but left aged 24 to have a baby. Then she went to university to get a degree in English Literature. “I don’t do anything much, but I can read”, she says modestly.

“I’d like this shop to be part of the community” she told me. One hot day this summer they gave a regular customer an ice lolly from a big box they’d bought at Tesco next door. The next time he came into the shop he brought them a cake.

Call For Books

Today I’m going to talk to you about telephone boxes. Nothing to do with books? Well, years ago there used to be telephone directories in phone boxes, but I’m not talking about them.

But these two old telephone kiosks in a couple of Bedfordshire villages are to do with books, because they’ve been converted into mini libraries. Neither village had a library, so their parish councils stepped forward.

Woburn