All hail the Bookshop! All hail the Bards!

Photo ‘borrowed’ from the Bookshop FB.

Early 2016 and the rumour is that the Willen Hospice Bookshop on the High Street in Stony Stratford (“the jewel in the crown of Milton Keynes”) is – shock! horror! – going to close.

Come March 31, 2018, the volunteers who put together a rescue bid are celebrating two years of successfully running the shop as a wholly volunteer-run enterprise.  And the Bardic posse of Stony Stratford are on hand to commemorate the achievement in verse.  Here be those verses, made available on Lillabullero through the good offices of Stephen Hobbs, of the Bardic Council:

Book Covers by Sam Upton
Bard of Stony Stratford

You shouldn’t ever judge a book,
Not by its cover, title or look,
At first it may appear old, torn,
Tattered and dog-eared,
But open it up, give it a chance,
I bet it’s not what you feared,

A picture is only worth a thousand words,
So why let it decide if you live or die
The next thousand pages,
Let ink fly,
Paper stages wait to be great,
Even if the cover’s a state,
Inside those words may sway your fate,

So, see past the picture,
It’s never too late,
Grab a battered, broken,
Bruised looking book,
Be a crook,
Steal its zeal,
Live a life that isn’t yours,
And make those characters real.

©Sam Upton

Sam Upton is the eighth and current Bard of Stony Stratford, elected, as is customary, at The Bardic Trials – an annual event that is part of the StonyWords! literary festival, every late January. There is a link to the Bardic website near the end of this post.  A later development has seen the appointment of a Youth and a Junior Bard.  This takes place at an event that is part of the annual StonyLive! music(and other things)fest, and is open to anyone aged 8-15 (the youngest presumably being the Junior).  Here are their poems written for the Willen Hospice Bookshop celebrations:

Books: How do you choose yours?
by Dylan Piper Junior Bard 

Is it by the cover; is it by the name?
Is it by the thickness, or is it by its fame?

Do you take a fishing rod and see what you can catch?
Or do you trawl through hundreds for that perfect match?

Do you use your senses; see what you can smell?
And maybe give a little lick before reading it as well?

Can you hear the words within – do they jump out off the page?
Does the cover creak and moan, revealing its old age?

Does the story draw you in; can you see the author’s view?
Many useful facts to learn? Or maybe just a few?

Is there too much gadzookery within the book itself?
Or do the words flow and fly that book right off the shelf?

When you’re in the bookshop, looking for that next read,
Notice how you choose the one – that meets your every need.

©Dylan Piper – Junior Bard (age 10)

 

I love books by Isabelle Chapman Youth Bard

Books, books, please don’t let them fade
Put those screens and devices away, and let the books rage
There are lots of secrets and adventures heading your way.

But we have to support our book shop to make sure it stays
It could be reading and learning, all the new things to know
There are many different ways to learn, just get up and go!

Turning the pages, seeing the pictures how could you not love
The special bond a book can produce and all of the above!
You could even learn all about our own Cock and Bull history.

So keep reading every day and make a book your new accessory!

©Isabelle Chapman – Youth Bard (age 11)

“Charitable bookworms share top ten successes” said the headline of a write-up in local free-sheet MK Citizen, thus maintaining local press tradition by working the word ‘bookworms’ – to the despair of library service press release writers everywhere – into any story ever published therein about libraries or bookshops.  A team of 35 volunteers, ages ranging from 19 to 87 have kept this splendid institution on the road, giving, between them volunteering  5,000 hours in the shop.  At the time of the birthday they had sold 86,000 books from the 105 metres of shelving, which hold 5,000 volumes.   Apparently James Patterson is the author most frequently donated, while the highest earning individual book – sold on eBay – was a classic of railway literature.

You can read a bit more of the MK Citizen article at:
www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/willen-hospice-bookshop-celebrates-two-years-of-success-1-8421698

The main Willen Hospice website is here: www.willen-hospice.org.uk/

Here’s the Friends of Willen Hospice Bookshop FaceBook page: www.facebook.com/WillenHospiceBookshop/

And for your further delectation, the Bardic Council of Stony Stratford pages are here: bardofstony.weebly.com/

An addendum I found it hard to resist:

Book Booty

‘You can either come into Rags [free plug] with me,’ said Andrea, who needed to change some slacks last Saturday, ‘or I’ll meet you in the Bookshop.  Not a bad four quids’ worth.  One of the funniest writers on the planet, one for the grandson (early poetry induction), and a brick of a cult classic that I have every intention of reading (Patti Smith raves about it), but will look good on the shelves anyway.

& finally – discuss:

Borrowed from the splendid goComics website, specifically: http://www.gocomics.com/lastkiss/2018/04/18

 

 

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