Baggins Bookshop, Rochester

It is hardly surprising that with Rochester's much-advertised literary connections (Dickens hometown), one of the best secondhand bookshops in the land calls the town its home. Last time I was in Rochester I killed a happy hour in there, browsing everything from Welsh dictionaries to obscure poetry. The front room of the shop resembles a Ryanair check-in for books. The floor was almost obscured by a carpet of books, from which rose little 4 foot colums of teetering books. It all looked dangerously disorganised, although the post-it notes and strict instructions to not move books from piles implied otherwise. Possibly organised chaos incarnate.

Baggins touts itself as the largest second hand bookshop in England. It may well be true. The labyrinthine little corridors, side rooms and vestibules certainly house thousand upon thousands of books. The books themselves are not always as cheap as one might hope or expect. Although I was pleasantly surprised by my poetry purchase. (I got an old copy of Faber's Poems and Places for £2.40). In short, I suspect the pricing is done fairly arbitarily which makes for quite inconsistent pricing. Still, even if you do not buy anything, which would certainly require a significant amount of willpower, it's a great little place to wander around, poke about in and get lost in. I'm sure many potential out of print treasures and special gifts are lurking on its dusty shelves. The website claims they receive visitors from all over the world and as far away as USA. At 25 years old now, this bookshop has certainly achieved iconic status in the Medway.

http://www.bagginsbooks.co.uk/index.html

Now for a few more photos I surreptitiously stole with my camera.

A little dead end corridor in the maze

Shop facade in Rochester Highstreet

A book maze!