Quality used fiction, non-fiction and children’s books at 31 Bridge Street, in the old town of Berwick-upon-Tweed. A red shopfront, a famous painted ceiling, a leather chair to read in, and shelves restocked every week. Run by Lisa Hobman and Claire Morton, keeping the shop just as its founder built it.
Fiction piled high, non-fiction wall to wall, a children’s corner, and prints among the spines. Stock changes every week, so phone 01289 298361 if you are after something in particular.
Literary, classics, crime and suspense
Quality used fiction across many sections, from literary novels and classics to the crime and suspense wall (a favourite of Lisa, who writes it). Paperbacks often three for five pounds. Stock turns over weekly.
History, art, nature, the North
A wide secondhand non-fiction range along the red shelves: history, art, biography, nature and travel, with a good run on Northumberland, the Borders and the North of England.
Picture books to young adult
A dedicated secondhand children’s selection, picture books for the very young through to young adult, the kind of shelf a family can lose half an hour to on a Saturday.
Plus cards, CDs and DVDs
Alongside the books: L.S. Lowry fine-art prints (Lowry painted Berwick for forty years), vintage movie posters, art prints and greetings cards, plus a shelf of CDs and DVDs.
The founder painted the domed ceiling above the middle of the shop himself, a sky of cloud and hills that the Daily Telegraph came to photograph. Below it: red shelving floor to ceiling, brass lamps, Persian rugs, and a leather Chesterfield to sit and read in. Visitors call it a Tardis, larger inside than it looks, and a maze to get happily lost in.
Slightly Foxed began as a stall in Berwick’s Charter Market, started by Dr Simon Heald, who was meticulous about every detail and gave the shop its cosy, old-world feel. After some fourteen years he moved it into 31 Bridge Street in 2017.
Simon died suddenly in early 2020. Lisa Hobman and Claire Morton, two friends and regular customers, took the shop on in 2021 because they wanted it to remain just as Simon had intended. Claire came from textiles; Lisa writes contemporary fiction, fifteen novels and counting. Between them they keep the shelves full and the door open.
The shelves turn over every week, so the best way to find a title is to ask. Tell us what you are looking for and we will check the shop and keep an eye out. If you have books to sell or a collection to clear, we are always interested, phone first and we will talk it through.
Or phone 01289 298361 (shop) or 07768 720770, or email SlightlyFoxedBerwick@gmail.com.
We are at the river end of the old town, on Bridge Street near the Old Bridge and the quay, a short walk down from the Town Hall and Marygate. Berwick is England’s northernmost town, ringed by the only complete Elizabethan walls in Britain, well worth the journey north.
A two-person shop, so hours can vary. Phone 01289 298361 if you are travelling a distance.
For anything not here, phone the shop on 01289 298361 or email SlightlyFoxedBerwick@gmail.com.
We are a secondhand bookshop. The shelves are quality used fiction and non-fiction for adults and children, restocked weekly, so it is worth coming back. If you are after one particular title, phone the shop on 01289 298361 and we will tell you what is in.
Secondhand prices, marked inside each book. Paperbacks are often three for five pounds, and there are bargains throughout the shop. Bring cash or card.
Yes. The domed ceiling mural that Simon painted is still above the middle of the shop, and it was featured in the Daily Telegraph. You are very welcome to come in, sit in the reading chair and look up. No need to buy a thing.
We do sell L.S. Lowry prints. Lowry holidayed in Berwick from the 1930s until the year he died and made more than thirty works of the town. The Berwick Lowry Trail maps the views, several within a short walk of the shop.
We are at 31 Bridge Street, in the old town near the river end, by the Old Bridge and the quay. It is a short walk down from the Town Hall and Marygate. There is parking at Castlegate and along the quayside.
We are always interested in good secondhand books. The easiest thing is to phone first on 01289 298361 or email so we can talk through what you have before you carry it down to Bridge Street.