Tuesday, 9 June 2009

St Marychurch

This morning we jumped in the car and just for a change, instead of our usual craft morning, I took everyone to St Marychurch,Torquay.
It's a quaint little Victorian arcade with such a variety of shops...everything you need...and traffic free.
As we were walking up the street I noticed...
Fables The Bookshop


Well, I already knew it existed but what I didn't know was that it had two very friendly owners, Doreen and Frances.
Naturally, before we entered the shop,these books caught my eye and I am glad they did...

Without boring all of you footy haters too much, Charlie Buchan was a famous footballer,whose 'Football Monthly' became a firm favourite amongst footy fans after it was launched in 1951.
And now these lovely gift books are in the bookshops:
Well amazingly, Frances told us that she was Charlie Buchan's granddaughter!
She was quite happy to be snapped..

This little shop was jam packed full of wonderful books..I need to revisit as we could not take it all in!
A book shop as bookshops should be....and of course
the last words are from Frances and Doreen..



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9 comments:

  1. galant9 June 2009 at 16:13

    How lovely to see my old stomping ground, Sal! First things first: my parents moved from Lancashire in 1951 and bought a newsagents' shop in what is now the precinct of St Marychurch. In those days, it was two-way traffic, can you believe? In a road so narrow! Double-decker buses would regularly try to pass each other and become wedged and I could even reach out of the bedroom windows above the shop and touch them. No 'Elf and Safety rules in those days, eh?
    Next, the bookshop you have focused on was, in my days in St Marychurch, i.e. from 1951 to 1962, Stoneman's. This was a TV and record shop. It is where I bought my first LP of The Shadows, although my parents had bought LPs (vinyl for those only used to CDs and DVDs).
    Husband and I now regularly shop in St Marychurch as it has just about everything we need. It's not as large as a town, but for a village it has a wide selection of shops, including four banks, two chemists, a wet fish shop (excellent) a hardware store, two shoe shops, florist, butcher, health food shop, needlework shop, pet shop, two small supermarkets, and of course, the aforementioned bookshop! Close by is Cary Park for walks, and Babbacombe Downs. What could be nicer. Nourish's is lovely for coffee, too, and there's the lovely museum of Victorian life, Bygones (which used to be the old Tudor Cinema.)
    I would add that The House of Fables is on the corner of Church Road. This is where my husband - then to be - parked his car way back in 1962 before we had our first date, so this is where we walked the very first time we went out together. The Hospice Shop, next to The House of Fables, used to be Mayne's, a grocers shop, but the hardware store, opposite, Drower's, has always been Drower's as long as I can remember.

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  2. The Weaver of Grass9 June 2009 at 17:53

    Lovely post Sal - that looks my kind of bookshop - where the owners are friendly and welcoming and know that youmight want to browse all day. Super.

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  3. KC'sCourt!9 June 2009 at 18:38

    I love that sort of bookshop. I must try and find it next time we are that way. I love old bookshops, the smell of them just draws me in.......
    Julie xxxxxxx

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  4. Floss9 June 2009 at 19:06

    That looks wonderful, with such a great connection! Our small town's bookshop is also excellent, and is called 'Il etait une fois' (Once upon a time), which has a nice link to the name of your bookshop. It is also a supurb shop - I cannot imagine a town of this size in England having such a good bookshop.

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  5. Margaret's Ramblings10 June 2009 at 03:36

    What a lovely post and how I enjoyed galant's comments. It's a long way from my home but if ever I am down that way Fables will be on my list of places to visit.

    Margaret

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  6. Rosie10 June 2009 at 12:07

    St Marychurch looks wonderful, Sal and the book shop so interesting - I love independent bookshops with friendly owners, where you can browse to your heart's content:)

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  7. Country Cottage Chic10 June 2009 at 13:48

    What a fantastic looking bookshop! Well worth another visit I think.

    What has happened to Mr Snippet's blog? Have the Blogger gremlins struck again as they did on my blog?

    I was going to tell him all about catching my strawberry thief red handed.

    Jayne

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  8. Guenievre (France)11 June 2009 at 13:36

    Très joli post.
    Je reconnais un dessin du "Lièvre et la Tortue" (Hare and Turtle ?) de Jean de La Fontaine le fabuliste.
    Le bookshop a une très jolie façade.

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  9. Funkymonkey12 June 2009 at 08:39

    I love bookshops and dream about owning my own. I loved the football books as they reminded me about the early seventies when I started to appreciate the beautiful game.

    Tracey

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Thank you for taking the time to comment! ;-)

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