The Splendour of Scrivener's five floors in Buxton

On a recent trip out in Buxton, I was pre informed of a bookshop on the upper high street that would take my fancy, nestled up amongst the beautiful buildings and numerous pubs I found her, Scriveners. A near perfect bookshop, a warm welcome, beautifully arranged chaos, antiquarian jumbled in with cheap paperbacks, maps, charts, sheet music and everything in between. Something that immediately grabbed me was the window proudly informing passers by of the 'five floors' of books. I gleefully blenched and my partner simultaneously groaned this was a minimum six hour job.

I digress, another lovely feature is the set out of the rooms, the basement with its original cast iron kitchen, a white organ upstairs, a toilet and cake and tea facilities, a children's corner. In essence a Waterstones in a utopic future world, where the seven books on offer weren't written by either Dan Brown or Steig Larsson.

"Scrivener's books and bookbinding's is the largest known second-hand bookshop in Derbyshire. We have over thirty thousand volumes, ranging from pulp to antiquarian, hundreds of children's fiction and many collectables and first editions. We also have a small cafe, which is waitress service on Saturdays and self-service every other day." 

www.scrivenersbooks.co.uk 

"We offer an extensive range of second-hand books, and repairs, restorations and new creations of books to your specifications, all done in-house by the proprietor Alastair Scrivener (above), and Holly Serjeant. We can create new bindings of your work, such as thesis bindings. We also carry out work done by Vivien Lunniss, both bookbinding and calligraphy. Mahogany boxes, slip cases and show cases are made to order by Harold."

  

The fabulous Derbyshire views offered by the attic window upstairs. Revealing Buxton's status as the gateway to the Peak District.

If having scones and tea mid browse is not enough, or the availability of a toilet, there is always the organ to belt out some of the sheet music waiting to be dusted off.

                  

Blyton, Ransome, Saville, Lewis, Tolkein...this is what childhood is made of, oh and of course, the seaside, adventure, cliffs, caves, trees, boxes, pirates and treasure.