Image found: deviantart.com
In the countryside we are not amongst the hubbub of busy shopping life. In fact, if you need to have a good old shopping session you have to travel 20-40 minutes to get anywhere where the population density of shoppers increases.
In the sticks, we don't have much but what we do have near is fantastic. Brampton Bryan in Herefordshire, where, as a young girl I grew up and what a place to grow up. With wide expanses of fields, rivers to swim in, trees to climb, nature at it's best. An absolute dream for a wild child such as myself.
From the top of the hill in Brampton Bryan Park.
Leo loving the snow in Brampton Bryan Park (2013)
This tiny village (found on route, in between Ludlow to Knighton and when I say in the sticks, I mean that unless you are on EE, phone signal in this area is poor to non existent, as we are so technologically advanced out here-so be prepared), is now home to a number of craft businesses, artists, cafe and bookshop with Brampton Bryan Hall and Castle right in the heart of the village.
As the image says A is for Aardvark and Aardvark is certainly what they have in Brampton Bryan. The wonderful, friendly bookshop Aardvark Books.
Check out their website: aardvark-books
A true gem of a bookshop which is a must see if you visit this glorious part of Herefordshire (and yes we are in Herefordshire not Shropshire here, we are on the border on Herefordshire, Shropshire and Powys and it's to do with where our post gets sorted, in Craven Arms in Shropshire, hence the Shropshire address but we are definitely Herefordshire, after much debating with college bus passes etc).
You can sit down and have coffee and cake, even read a book in their cafe or outside in the warm summer months. There are comfy chairs scattered all around, so you could hide away and immerse yourself in a book too. They even have an area set up for kids to read and play in, with events and activities often put on for them.
There are thousands of books to behold. The smell is wonderful, old and new books fill your senses and if you love books this is heaven.
I have spent many hours here wandering up and down the aisles of books shelves, unable to contain my excitement of having so many books to choose from and more often then not I go home with a huge armful of books, to add to the already mountainous collection containing no space for more.
Other activities are held in the car park such as flea markets, art exhibits, food festivals, music events, book signings and the infamous Scarecrow weekend. So lots to do all year round.
Aardvark Books
The Bookery
Manor Farm
Brampton Bryan
Bucknell
Shropshire
SY7 0DH
Find them on facebook: AardvarkBooks
No comments:
Post a Comment