You can't run from the rain

We are not the most hardy of couples. We like our home comforts of running water, warmth, soap, towels, all the usual things that mean only minimal effort is required to make yourself presentable. In other words, camping is not for us. Neither is any other form of on-the-go cleaning up and changing: wet wipes are for sticky fingers and that's about it.

Our self-knowledge was reinforced a year or so ago, when we went on holiday to Northumberland. We weren't daft, we stayed in a nice hotel in Bamburgh and enjoyed using it as a base to explore the county. But. There had to be a but. Alnwick is a little far from Bamburgh.

Distance shouldn't really matter for a regular day out, however our trip was timed for a Saturday and as I'm sure everyone knows: Saturday is parkrun day.

This particular parkrun day also coincided with rain. The kind that soaks you to the skin before you're even halfway out the front door. And this particular parkrun is in a field, which meant we were a little muddy and a lot wet by the time we'd completed our 5km. No bookshop would thank us for bringing that into their space.

We do our best to be considerate so we had two options:
1. Go home, accept we'd missed out on a bookshop visit.
2. Attempt to clean ourselves up, get to that bookshop no matter what.

Obviously we only really had one option.

Several million packs of wet wipes later and we were at least mud-free. Sweater and raincoat over the top and we almost looked presentable. Then we got back out of the car and realised our "waterproofs" were designed for southern rain. 

Of course, by the time we'd walked to our destination the rain had stopped and so we somehow managed to be the only people in town who looked like drowned rats.

Anyway, enough about us, all you need to know is that we were very, very soggy as we arrived outside the smart front of The Accidental Bookshop in Alnwick.

As I write, I'm looking at a very blurry photo taken from just inside the door. It's a terrible picture and contains a few children, so I can't share it here but it's prompted memories of a space that feels bigger and airier than the small footprint of the bookshop.

The first thing you see upon entry is a large blue and white mural on a wall above the till. I believe it was a boat but my photography really isn't clear enough. The important thing is that the high ceiling of this front part of the bookshop is the reason for the feeling of air and space.

The whole bookshop is one L-shaped room, with the children's area nicely tucked away in the length of the L in what feels like a snug contrast to the front section.

There's also a lovely quirk in the bookcases in the front area so that on one wall part of the bookcase stretches up and up, high enough that it could be part of another floor if someone chose to do some construction work (I hope they don't). 

Unfortunately my only usable photo from inside is this wall of books:

Beautiful, but it doesn't quite give away the character of the bookshop, so I recommend taking a look at the Brilliant Bookshops blog for a better look inside.

My sogginess may have meant I wasn't focussing enough to take decent photos, but I did still manage to enjoy the bookshop. It was busy – another reason for photography difficulties – and contained a good mix of unexpected books alongside the bestsellers and must-haves.

I'm conscious I don't read much in the genre of crime and thriller, and a local author was being promoted so this seemed like a good time to give it a go. You can run by Trevor Wood became my purchase (and was a very enjoyable read). I was pleased to see The Boy had picked up Osebol: Voices from a Swedish Village by Marit Kapla, which was one I'd been considering for myself. I've not yet managed to sneak it out of his bookshelves, so that's still on my to read list.

Considerably cheered by our bookshopping experience, we had intended to loiter and explore the rest of the town. The rain had other ideas and reappeared with a vengeance. We know our limits. We'd visited what was for us the most important part of Alnwick and so we headed home for a warm shower and dry clothes, followed by a cup of tea and our new books.

The Accidental Bookshop (which is part of the Forum Books family)
4 Narrowgate, Alnwick, Northumberland, NE66 1JG