The Bookery, Manor Farm, Brampton Bryan, SY7 0DH (formerly Aardvark Books)
Opening Hours:
Wednesday-Sunday 10am-4pm (from Wednesday 29th April)
Elderwood Books
Set in a barn on the Harley estate, in a beautiful part of the Marches, The Bookery has served as an Aladdin's cave of secondhand books for twenty years. Now Polly and Rachel have joined forces to run a new business venture, continuing to sell books, both preloved and new, while also providing delicious food and drink. We will also run events and provide room hire for for your own event, be it workshops or classes.
Enticing, nourishing, hospitable, handcrafted, a little bit mysterious, possibly dangerous, always intriguing, sharp as a tack, we are Elderwood Books.
By the the way, we are still developing this website - please be patient while we set it up. There is nothing to buy yet, so the shop button is a tease... however we are looking for staff; see below for our call out.
Opportunity
Do you love books? Good food? The countryside? Can you talk confidently to different people about those subjects? Do you need flexible day time hours? If so, this could be the job for you.
We are looking for enthusiastic and hardworking people to join us in the bookshop. This would involve selling books, organising displays and serving in the cafe. There may be other duties, we are a new business and are learning ourselves.
Retail and/or hospitality experience is desirable but not essential. More important is enthusiasm, a love of books and a willingness to learn. We want people who are excited at the idea of a new adventure and would like to be part of something new.
The hours would be part-time regular days, with the opportunity for more casual hours, particularly throughout the summer and definitely weekends and bank holidays.
Pay is currently £12.71 an hour if you are over twenty-one, but as the business grows we hope to pay a profit share, although this may not happen for a while.
If you think this may be for you, please email with your CV to elderwoodbooks@outlook.com.
Explore Our Shelves
Fiction
Children's books
Non-Fiction
Events
We run a year-round programme of events including flea markets and other themed markets - food, records, crafts - as well as a curated series of literary events, live arts, workshops, book groups, film screenings, supper clubs, bar nights, kids activities and more.
The Heart of the Shop
We sell excellent coffee, delicious cakes and light meals. If you are a passing walker or cyclist we can make you a pack lunch for your adventure. Feel free to linger while you decide which books you cannot live without.
Our background is in education and arts and therefore we are passionate about both community and the power of the written word. We have chosen the name Elderwood Books because we love the link to the natural world, trees are rooted (as are we), they reach for the sky, they provide shelter and nourishment for living things, people make handicrafts and paper from wood. People make cordial and champagne from their flowers, and folk medicine and jam from the berries. In Shropshire folklore, you must knock on an elder tree and ask permission from the witch that lives inside before chopping it down, and we like the idea of the wisdom of elders, and a tree spirit that is female.