This week I spent a couple of nights in Bath, catching up with a friend and making long overdue visits to the glorious bookshops in the city.
The train journeys were without incident and we packed a lot into our short stay, dodging showers and remaining upright in the gales.
It's been quite a while since I was last in the area and there was so much to explore. Beautiful buildings, friendly people, good food, wool shops and stationery, plus exquisite quilts at the American Museum and striking posters through the ages at the Victoria Art Gallery.
But the bookshops and the literary associations of Bath were always going to be a highlight.
We witnessed a customer taking tea with a bookseller at the amazing Topping & Company, a bookshop in a former chapel, near to the Roman Baths. We bought cards and bookmarks featuring the beautiful endpapers of Persephone Books at their shop at the top of town. There were numerous secondhand shops to browse and an impressive Waterstones.
We decided against taking tea with Jane Austen re-enactors and shunned the Mary Shelley Escape Room, but we were treated to an author event at the remarkable Mr B's Emporium on Thursday evening. Here, seated between bookcases, we heard Angela Tomaski talk to bookseller Lottie May about her debut novel 'The Infamous Gilberts' (look out for my review very soon).
It was a wonderful occasion and very special to be in this stunning bookshop where the booksellers are so clearly passionate about all they do here.
It's full of quirky features - trees in the children's area, an Imaginarium corner where authors sit to chat and sign their books, a bath filled with books on the main bookshop floor, a Tintin-covered wall beside the staircase.
There were author's pens fixed to the ceiling above the counter, identified by luggage labels hanging down (still high above my head). There were notices throughout the many rooms of books declaring forthcoming events and also the various subscription packages on offer, and there were recommendations and items of bookish merchandise everywhere. It was bliss!
I've returned home energised and inspired, and will be following the bookshops and their activities from afar, though I won't be leaving it too long before I visit them again.
Thank you for reading!