Central England is by far the largest area covered by our bookshop guide. Defining geographic regions is always a rather arbitrary business and I hope this arrangement makes some sort of sense.

Derbyshire
I'm sorry to see that "Jarvis Books" has gone. Although they were mountaineering specialists, their general stock was always interesting.

Nottinghamshire
It's a while since I've visited Nottingham but with four shops it must be worth a look. Outside of Nottingham it's thin to say the least, I can only find four shops in the rest of the county.

Staffordshire
Stephanie Hawkins, the new owner of "The Staffs Bookshop" is determined to continue the 65 year old tradition of bookselling on the site. With over 30,000 books in stock it must be worth a visit.

Shropshire
The closure of Ken Swift's multi-dealer shop, "Bookshop Bookfair" means that Ludlow is now without a single secondhand bookshop. Just ten years ago the town was home to seven bookshops and was something of a regional centre for the trade. However, there are still two shops in town which have books in them, rather than being bookshops.

West Midlands
I find it hard to believe that England's second city can only muster three secondhand bookshops; and one of those is an Oxfam shop! A number of the remaining shops in the area have "collectables" in their names.

Herefordshire
The bookshops are few and far between in Herefordshire nowadays, but I never leave "Ross Old Books" empty handed. "Castle Hill Books" are always worth a look (but only in the morning nowadays) and "The New Strand" is...huge.

Worcestershire
With three shops in Malvern (if you include Amnesty), three in Pershore and "Bookworms" in Evesham, it's still possible to spend a pleasent day book hunting in Worcestershire.

Leicestershire
Sadly the Black Cat Bookshop in Leicester has now closed, along with Alfred Lenton, but it seems that Leicester has more shops than I remember - I'd better arrange a visit.

Rutland
Returned as a county in 1997, although still a postal district of Leicestershire. Only two shops in Uppingham, now that "Goldmark" have closed, but both worth a visit.

Warwickshire
With the closure of The Straford Bookshop, Stratford Upon Avon is reduced to just one shop! In Warwick I've bought interesting books in the Eastgate Bookshop.

Northamptonshire
Five shops in the whole of the county and I have to confess, I haven't visited any of them.

Bedfordshire
With the closure of "Premier Books & Prints" I can only find three secondhand bookshops in Bedfordshire, and yes, one of them is an Oxfam shop.

Hertfordshire
The county is home to not one, but two Oxfam bookshops. On the other hand it does at least have seven proper shops.

If you run a bookshop in Central England, just complete a simple online form and you will start to attract new customers. Trade entries in the bookshop directory are free (although we reserve the right to charge a small administration fee in the future).