Alphabet Soup
13 Bowes Street
BLYTH  Northumberland  NE24 1BD
tel: 01670 797804  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 9.30 - 4.00.
Mostly fiction.
    A coffee shop with a small selection of books, this shop suffers the same problem as most similar establishments in that you cannot see the bookcases when people are at the tables. Worth a visit if you are in Blyth but not worth travelling any distance to. - Jeremy Briggs.

Barter Books
Alnwick Station
ALNWICK  Northumberland  NE66 2NP
tel: 01665 604888  fax: 01665 604444  e-mail   website  map
Open: 9.00 - 5.00 everyday (April to September 9.00 - 7.00).
All categories of books. One of the largest secondhand bookshops in Britain. ''The British Library of Secondhand Bookshops' - The New Statesman.
    It really is in an old railway station and it really is BIG. Calling it a shop does not do Barter Books justice, it is more of a day out. For the dedicated collector it could easily take several hours to peruse. Alnwick is a pretty market town and Barter Books is located in its old railway station, easily found from the A1. The platforms have been filled in and the now enclosed main concourse has become the main retail area, but the various rooms and waiting areas are used as well. The main children's section for instance has it own room with soft toys and seats to sit on whilst the children peruse the titles, if they are not distracted by the toy train that runs around the tops of the bookcases in the next room. There are coffee and biscuits to be bought and consumed in the reading room or the in the comfy chairs beside the fire. The main stock ranges from collectable books in glass cases on the walls to row upon row of paperbacks, from LPs to CDs & DVDs. They have a large selection of paperback and hardback fiction but there really can be few subjects that they do not cover. On a winters day the main concourse area can be cold and while the shop never feels full the car park is tight to manoeuvre in and out of when busy. Their pricing, oddly, rarely seems to end in a round pound or 50p but that is all part of the charm. Really not to be missed. - Jeremy Briggs.

Barter Books
67 Main Street
SEAHOUSES  Northumberland  NE68 7TN
tel: 01665 720330  map
Open: Winter Thursday - Saturday 10.30 -5.00, April onwards 7 days 10.30 - 5.00. A general stock of fiction and non-fiction hardbacks and paperbacks.
    A medium sized shop in this seaside town which apparently is now separate from its big brother in Alnwick. Well stocked, although a squeeze to get around on a busy day, the little Barter Books is worth the trek down the country lanes from the A1. - Jeremy Briggs.

Berrydyn Books
18a Castlegate
BERWICK-UPON-TWEED  Northumberland  TD15 1JT
tel: 01289 309000  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.30 - 6.00.
Excessively cheap general stock and in particular books on the arts and local interest.
    Bright, well laid out and with a wonderful smell of pine from their new bookcases, this medium sized shop is a short walk out from the city walls and a big car park and only a few minutes drive from the main A1. Well stocked and friendly, with toys to amuse the children, it is well worth stopping off at if you are crossing the Scottish/English border at Berwick. - Jeremy Briggs.

John Marrin Rare Books
18 Ford Village  Ford
BERWICK UPON TWEED  Northumberland  TD15 2QG tel: 01890 820500  e-mail   website  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.30 - 4.30.
A medium stock, particularly, WW1 history and literature, local history, gardening and angling.

Newcastle Bookshop At Haltwhistle
Market Square
HALTWHISTLE  Northumberland  NE49 0BL
tel: 01434 320103  map
Open: Thursday - Saturday 11.00 - 4.00
Newcastle Bookshop has a wide-ranging stock, but throughout its history it has been particularly known for its strength in the visual arts, including photography.

Oxfam Bookshop
2 Battle Hill
HEXHAM  Northumberland  NE46 1BB
tel: 01434 608923  map
    A small shop ideally placed and easy to find in the main shopping street, but hardly a substitute for losing Hencotes bookshop. - Jeremy Briggs.

Priestpopple Books
9 Priestpopple
HEXHAM  Northumberland  NE46 1PF
tel: 01434 607773  map
Open: Monday - Saturday 9.00 - 5.00.
60,000 secondhand books covering most subjects.
    My first time in Hexham, even with its address and a map, I walked straight past Priestpopple. It is on one side of the open air bus station on the main shopping street and, since it doesn't look like a shop let alone a bookshop, it hides its glories well. Once you are in on the ground floor it appears to be a medium sized bookshop but go up the stairs and there is at least as much again. Well organised and nicely laid out, this is a hidden gem of a shop with good coverage of most subjects with some LPs and comics as well. - Jeremy Briggs.