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About
us
Astley Book Farm was opened to the public by
Vivienne Mills and Sarah Exley in 2004 and has steadily expanded to become one of the largest
secondhand bookshops in the country.
Astley Book Farm is situated on Arbury Estate, the birthplace of
the Victorian writer George Eliot. We stock a wide range of her works and associated
literature.
Astley Book Farm are double Godiva Award
Winners, named the best new business 2005 followed in 2007 best shop in Coventry and Warwickshire
and have been growing from strength to strength ever since.
We have a large free car park, also tea, coffee and cold drinks available.
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Birmingham Mail FRIDAY, JANUARY 14,
2011
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Lose
yourself in
rural
book maze
GRAHAM
YOUNG VISITS ASTLEY BOOK FARM, nr BEDWORTH
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ONE of the most frustratin things about this time of year is that so many attractions
are closed because of the weather. And with good reason given the ice, snow, frost, fog, rain and
general gloom we’ve had to suffer recently. So it’s time then, perhaps, to lose yourself in a good
book or two. Or, if you go to Astley Book Farm near Bedworth, 75,000 good books. As we entered
Astley Lane, my children were somewhat incredulous when I finally revealed where we were going.
If I’ve always told them that money doesn’t grow on trees, then why should books? But by turning
some old agricultural buildings into a giant, labyrinthine bookshop, the owners here can justly
claim this really is a ‘book farm’. The difference such a rural location makes to the exciting
world of books is amazing.
Unlike the Waterstone’s and WH Smith stores on every high street and retail park, this is one
shop where you won’t be falling over stacks of moneymaking celebrity ‘reads’. Instead of the
entrance being half-blocked with Jordan’s airbrushed features on a pile of her latest ‘books’, the
first thing you’ll see are the welcoming faces of friendly owners Vivienne Mills and Sarah
Exley.
They work right at the front door of this seven-year-old business, offering an instant welcome with
impartial advice. Beyond their busy counter, hardly a spare inch of space seems to have been wasted
in what they claim is ‘the largest secondhand bookshop in the Midlands’.
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As the Victorian author Samuel Butler once said: ‘‘The oldest books are only just out to those
who have not read them’’. Even the roof space is a children’s ‘hayloft’ to encourage a literary
sense of adventure. While the farm’s shelves are easily searchable, the whole layout of the place
has a deliciously higgledy-piggledy nature, too – at odds with the way school children today are
often told exactly what they will learn and when.
Having the time to explore the world at random like this is an increasingly scarce commodity,
yet it’s surely at the root of real discovery. The farm deals with large collections and has many
rare books kept safely, including first edition copies of works by Charles Dickens (Little Dorrit)
and local author George Eliot (Middlemarch) who was born on the farm’s wider estate.
If some of your own treasured books need repairing, visit the farm’s hand book binding expert
Judith Sherwood. We left Astley with a footdeep pile of books which cost less than £20 – and £10
less than I paid for just one more specialised new book in Waterstone’s the following day.
One of my finds was a fouryear- old pristine copy of Winston Churchill: The Photobiography, a
collection of more than 200 rare and previously unpublished photographs revealing many aspects of
his life. And the price? Just £4.75.
Biscuits and tea/coffee are available today, but a new coffee shop, featuring goods supplied by a
local 130-year-old bakery, will be opening at Easter. That really will be the icing on what is
already a delightful cake.
Pictures: Graham Young
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Graham
Young
emerges himself in
Dickens and Proust
at the West Midlands’
largest second
hand bookshop
It is said that you should never judge a book by its cover – but keen readers Vivienne Mills and Sarah
Exley have learned that the same applies to people, too. Whenever customers walk into their
shop the pair can never second-guess them.
“It’s always interesting to see the mix of stuff that people buy,” says Vivienne. “I’ll think: ‘I would
never have chosen that for him. |
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‘Or you’ll find that the scruffiest person will buy the
dearest book and the well-heeled won’t. And some
people will be buying books by Proust when you’d
look at them and think they wouldn’t even be able to
read.”
What makes their job even more exciting is that
they own what is joyously called Astley Book Farm.
And on that farm are 75,000 books in 4,000 sq ft of
enjoyably maze-like corridors, complete with children’s
hayloft and ‘‘ten bob barn’’.
By their reckoning, this makes them the owners of
the Midlands’ largest second hand book store.
With room to expand and new customers seeking
out their seven-year-old treasure trove all the time,
who knows how far their literary adventures will
take them?
But the nice thing about Astley Book Farm is that
it’s a genuine heritage business.
As well as incorporating their business and Vivienne’s
farmhouse accommodation, the wider
6,000-acre estate was also the 1819 birthplace of
Victorian author George Eliot.
So when the women applied for planning permission
to convert some old cow sheds into a book shop
the change of use was quickly rubber stamped.
Today, its specialist collectors’ stocks include first
edition copies by timeless authors including Eliot
and Charles Dickens – but no Mills & Boon despite
Vivienne’s surname.
“We’re not that far from anywhere,” she says. “But
we have to sell good stuff because people make a
special effort to get here.
Although you can already buy biscuits and teas
and coffees on site already, a new coffee shop will
open in time for Easter ready to sell provisions from
a 130-year-old bakery in nearby Bedworth.
This will be a good reason for more customers to travel further and to stay longer, to meet
like-minded
people and even, perhaps, to attend special events as
the store’s reputation spreads.
The book farm even hosted a panto earlier this
month and the May and August bank holiday weekends
will again feature discount sales in a marquee.
Vivienne says: “We have had some celebrity visitors,
too, including Jeremy Beadle, who came a few
times before he died.”
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Because the counter is at the front door, every customer
is greeted with a friendly welcome and expert
advice.
Polesworth-based Sarah’s accountancy skills
manage the business in every sense. She’s also the
main buyer and in each year around a third of the
farm’s 75,000 stock is likely to be sold.
The women recently took delivery of 15,000 books
from a bereaved family, but stocks are usually
sourced in small numbers to maintain quality and
diversity and to ensure that none are ever sent to
landfill.
Vivienne left school after her A levels and eventually
became a deputy store manager for Sainsbury’s.
Son Adam, 24, is a PE teacher.
With husband Stephen looking after the book
farm’s constant odd job needs, the thriving business
has solid foundations despite the shifting nature of
retailing and the book market in particular.
Helping to ensure that every need can be met, expert
book binder Judith Sherwood is also on site repairing
valuable family heirlooms or treasured
reads.
Vivienne bemoans the lack of specialised bookshops
in Birmingham, but it’s one reason why Astley
Book Farm has flowered when many of the pair’s
friends questioned their original plans.
“Some said we were mad,” admits Vivienne.
A double Godiva Award winner for best new business
(2005) and best shop in Coventry and Warkwickshire
(2007), Astley Book Farm also trades on
various internet sites including Amazon and eBay.
Vivienne admits the human element of book selling
can be hugely rewarding.
“You generally find the people who come here are
in quite a good mood,” she smiles.
“They might come to escape the World Cup, or this
year, something like the Royal Wedding.
‘‘Some want to look at our railway or military books
and not be interested in anything else.
“The coffee shop will be handy because a wife might
have found what she wants and she’ll be saying to
her husband: ‘How much longer are you going to be?
She will be able to have a drink with her book while
he keeps looking.” |
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