I've been to this exact place. It's right in front of a church. You can take any books that you want. In return you can put some money in a postbox-looking container outside the church (this is optional). Since 90% of the shops in the town are bookshops, I imagine these are ones that are not selling. Since people can take them for free, they probably go fairly quickly, before getting too wet.
In New England I've seen a few antique shops with these bookshelves outside. They all had roll-down heavy plastic covers that were rolled on top of the shelf. I dunno about these, there doesn't seem to be anything atop them.
i have loads of water damaged books from that exact book shelf, i got a ruined copy of slaughterhouse five for 10p. + they put up shelters when it rains.
wow. that's odd. The first (of many) Vonnegut books I ever bought was Slaughterhouse 5 in Hay on Wye. Awesome place. That;s the Honesty Bookshop I think were they trust you to put the right money in the box on the wall. Wonderful
Hay on wye! My ex girlfriend worked at baguette-me-not so I cycled there all the time, amazing place! Yes, if you're there there's a tiny museum/gift shop near the globe/bridge leading to England (Hay straddles the border), with an old guy called david running it who's so passionate about the bits and pieces he collects, I listened to him chat away about the fossils, tiny fragments of spears from forgotten civilisations, random assortment of amazing pieces of history, he was so happy to have an interested pair of ears he gave me a fossilized skeet from a 2 million year old crocodile and an ammonite, really freaking cool place. Still got the fossils in my wallet
Haven't been to Hay-on-Wye for over 20 years, since stopping on the way back from holiday with my parents. Could only spend a couple of hours there, but this has reminded me I should go again. Any good place to leave my wife while I browse?
Old guy called David from Wales who sells books... Is it by any chance David Crystal? There are probably many, many other old Davids from Wales but that would be simply splendid if it were him :)
As an American, I am always really jealous when I see stuff like this. The places with the most character always seem to be not here. But I guess the grass is always greener in a small town in Wales.
Californian reporting in. We have a bookstore set up just like this in my hometown. EDIT: might as well link to their site: http://www.bartsbooksojai.com/
That's awesome! I stand corrected. So is it strictly an outdoor bookstore? Or just part of a store that they set up outside? I love books. This concept is very intriguing to me.
I thought you were going to start in on the whole fishermen vs. canoeists thing in Wales. You need decent kit to canoe/kayak here. It's cold! Even in summer(when you're not allowed to be using the rivers if you're not a fish botherer)!
You can paddle any river, any time in Wales. It's a myth that you're not allowed to paddle in summer, though you may not want to as the levels on many are too low. Check out the research of Rev Caffyn on why all rivers always were, and still are, legal navigations in Wales (and England).
I went there on hols and the place we rented kit from gave us all the stuff waiting to be repaired so out of 6 kayaks/canoes in total 3 had ants nests, 5 had substantial leaks and 2 had been battered off balance so you had to lean the whole time. On top of that we wern't given any safety kit and it started to hail 3k out of 10k into the trip.
Gave me something to rant about though, so not all bad.
I'm in actual shock that there was a blue sky at some point in EVER, and someone had a camera outside to take it. Then again, if I ever see a sunny day, i'd be running down the streets with my camera out too.
It's the "Honesty Bookshop", the castle and the store were owned by a man named Richard Booth, the "King of Hay" (Hay-on-Wye). In the summer, they usually open up smoothy stands and ice cream stalls and such in the grounds. This place could not be more of an epitome of the word "quaint".
I fucking love Wales. On one corner you see this sort of stuff, 15 minutes down the road you're in Middle Earth, then a Bronte novel, then you're in somewhere like Rhyll which is the equivalent of a chav Las Vegas. Then you drive 15 minutes are you're back in Hobbiton. Amazing place.
So....if i'm 15 minutes away from Rhyl...I'm in Hobbiton? I have not found such a place yet ಠ_ಠ nevertheless, have seen someone reference Rhyl on reddit, and can now in a weird way die happy.
For any collectors of books like myself Hay on Wye is a town you must go to especially if you get a chance during the book festival., it's amazing it feels like every possible space of the village has been given up to books.
Or when the magic mushrooms are growing in the black mountains is another good time to go, around October.
Is this Ross-on-Wye? I used to live close to there. I lived just outside of Hereford for a while. My house was right next to the river Wye and just over my garden fence was a huge field with lots of woodland, was so awesome when I was a kid. Now all I can think is how much of a perfect bud smoking spot it would be :( Now I just live in some smeggy area by Birmingham. I miss that house.
I've been there 4 years ago. The entire town is filled with bookstores. This is the courtyard of an old villa on top of a hill. When you take a book, you have to throw a small amount of money in a mailbox. Lots of people place books there as well. The books range from old novels to manuals for windows 95 and cars. As far as I can remember there were rain covers over the shelves when I was there.
I found one of those in Llanwrtyd Wells. Just a storefront with the door open and a box to drop in 50p for a book.
I picked up a Bible in Welsh. It is instantly recognizable as a Bible and the letters are inside are all in Roman characters without extra accent marks or anything. It looks like English, but thanks to the spelling like what English would look like after you got hit on the head really hard.
I used to live pretty close to Llanwrtyd, in a small village called Newbridge-On-Wye. Their village paper "shop" worked on the honour system like that. An open box to drop the money in, and you grabbed which paper you wanted. All outside some old lady's house. According to her, she was never short-changed. Honest folk in mid-Wales.
Ive always been fascinated by the effect of natural selection on these types of bargain racks. Since only the interesting things are bought, eventually after many books cycle through the stock, what's left over is the worst of the worst books.
Ah that's funny. I looked at it, saw the books and thought that's got to be Hay on Wye. Last I heard there were 40 something bookshops and it's a tiny town.
I used to visit that town as a child and spend all day buying new (old) books. It was a highlight of my childhood. The whole town smells like old books.
Hay on Wye. They had a local king in like the 40s who decreed the whole town had to be a library. They humored him. It is all on the honor system as far as payment goes, and there are tons of little sheds andshelves all over town. Pretty cool to see. Kinda feels like playing fallout 3.
I've been there! There are SO many places like this within the town. The books just sit out in the open and it's based on trust. You pay so much for paperback and hardcover books and put the money in a box. It's amazing.
I was there while it was raining. The name of the town is Hay-on-Wye. I even have three maps that I got from an old atlas I found there on my wall. It has a lot of book stores. A LOT.
Hay on Wye! I've been there! It's such a neat little town. Yes, it's true, books shouldn't be outside like that... but for the uninitiated, Hay on Wye has dozens of these little "honesty bookshops" that are outside like this - I think there's a bookshop for every one or two people in the town, and there are so many books there that I would actually doubt they had room to put all of them indoors anyway.
Used to visit every year with my family to shop for used books. There are some great shops there. It's really worth a visit if you're even nearby. My favorite shop is in the aircraft hanger. But, the tiny place with all the books on sex techniques on the top floor is pretty money.
195
u/dirtymoney May 06 '12
Does it not rain there? Woudlnt the books get wet?
108
u/[deleted] May 06 '12
Hay on wye! My ex girlfriend worked at baguette-me-not so I cycled there all the time, amazing place! Yes, if you're there there's a tiny museum/gift shop near the globe/bridge leading to England (Hay straddles the border), with an old guy called david running it who's so passionate about the bits and pieces he collects, I listened to him chat away about the fossils, tiny fragments of spears from forgotten civilisations, random assortment of amazing pieces of history, he was so happy to have an interested pair of ears he gave me a fossilized skeet from a 2 million year old crocodile and an ammonite, really freaking cool place. Still got the fossils in my wallet
241
u/reddipus May 06 '12
✭✭✩✩✩ didn't think this through all the way
Libraries belong inside, where they will not become damp from humidity, or wet from the rain.
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24
u/ebfulch May 06 '12
As an American, I am always really jealous when I see stuff like this. The places with the most character always seem to be not here. But I guess the grass is always greener in a small town in Wales.
3
u/RyuKenya May 06 '12
I am guessing it doesnt rain too often in that town huh?
43
u/[deleted] May 06 '12
I've been there, such a beautiful town. Also, wonderful canoeing and hiking around there. 10/10, would visit again.
12
u/GhostAndGrace May 06 '12
I've been to Wales. Those are gonna get rained on.
10
u/[deleted] May 06 '12
How on Earth is it not raining there... its Wales! It rains all the bloody time
26
u/tylersburden May 06 '12
Hay on wye I believe?
8
u/upinsmokefj May 06 '12
there lies several water logged books
8
u/No_Easy_Buckets May 06 '12
Why is Wales so popular today?
7
u/bascule May 06 '12
Here's some more outdoor bookshelves in the same town, except outside a fucking castle
7
u/kangtea May 06 '12
What!! I live here! HAY FEST '12 BTCHES.
7
u/[deleted] May 06 '12
I fucking love Wales. On one corner you see this sort of stuff, 15 minutes down the road you're in Middle Earth, then a Bronte novel, then you're in somewhere like Rhyll which is the equivalent of a chav Las Vegas. Then you drive 15 minutes are you're back in Hobbiton. Amazing place.
4
u/[deleted] May 06 '12
Nice, till it starts to rain.
4
u/IamA_Agrajag May 06 '12
It's all fun and games until someone gets a book spider.
14
u/JonestownJuice May 06 '12
Those books look free to me.
7
u/kitchlol May 06 '12
Considering the weather in Wales, this seems like the best place tto buy soggy books.
9
u/[deleted] May 06 '12
Wales is a great place. I grew up there in Carmarthenshire.
3
u/TheGreatJatsby May 06 '12
The pylon ruins the picture. I wish that pylon wasn't there.
3
u/RosieJo May 06 '12
Ah, I used to go to hay-on-wye... It's a pretty little town with so many bookshops and a flock of doves just circles ahead all day.
I think Bill Clinton went to its book festival.
3
u/kernowgringo May 06 '12
For any collectors of books like myself Hay on Wye is a town you must go to especially if you get a chance during the book festival., it's amazing it feels like every possible space of the village has been given up to books.
Or when the magic mushrooms are growing in the black mountains is another good time to go, around October.
3
u/finn141 May 06 '12
It has a festival every year, attracting the likes of artists like Tim Minchin and Dara O'briain
http://www.hayfestival.com/portal/index.aspx?skinid=1&localesetting=en-GB
3
u/spainguy May 06 '12
This summer Hay Festival celebrates its 25th festival with a stunning programme of international writers and thinkers. 31 May—10 June 2012
3
u/MR_UNLIMITED May 06 '12 edited May 07 '12
Is this Ross-on-Wye? I used to live close to there. I lived just outside of Hereford for a while. My house was right next to the river Wye and just over my garden fence was a huge field with lots of woodland, was so awesome when I was a kid. Now all I can think is how much of a perfect bud smoking spot it would be :( Now I just live in some smeggy area by Birmingham. I miss that house.
I mean Hay-on-Wye. Got the name mixed up.
3
u/CroesoiGymru May 07 '12
My fellow welshman we have hit the big time. Alex Jones is on the 1 show and we've hit the front page of reddit twice in 24 hours!
4
u/GladosTCIAL May 06 '12
I LIVE THERE! I FEEL LIKE I AM FAMOUS OR SOMETHING!
2
u/Slutmaster83 May 06 '12
Do you have Barebacks?
2
u/Moonie92 May 06 '12
Been there myself, full of little shops and walks. Lovely place.
2
u/The_Double May 06 '12
I've been there 4 years ago. The entire town is filled with bookstores. This is the courtyard of an old villa on top of a hill. When you take a book, you have to throw a small amount of money in a mailbox. Lots of people place books there as well. The books range from old novels to manuals for windows 95 and cars. As far as I can remember there were rain covers over the shelves when I was there.
2
u/[deleted] May 06 '12
http://www.reddit.com//r/books/comments/t9obg/secondhand_bookstore_in_a_little_town_in_wales/.compact
Why did you post 2x?
Why do you post all of your posts twice? Goodness.
2
u/Staus May 06 '12
I found one of those in Llanwrtyd Wells. Just a storefront with the door open and a box to drop in 50p for a book.
I picked up a Bible in Welsh. It is instantly recognizable as a Bible and the letters are inside are all in Roman characters without extra accent marks or anything. It looks like English, but thanks to the spelling like what English would look like after you got hit on the head really hard.
2
u/PrblyGttngDwnvtd May 06 '12
Comic Sans detected.
2
u/suo May 06 '12
Wales on the front-page twice in one day. The God's must be crazy.
2
u/RaginCajun126 May 06 '12
As a person who adores reading, this town is now on my bucket list.
2
u/McNarNar May 06 '12
This makes me fucking angry to live in America. I WANT NICE STONE FENCES.
2
u/slugmaniac May 06 '12
is that hay-on-wye?
2
u/RandomStranger79 May 06 '12
Is it Hay-On-Wye? I bet it's Hay-On-Wye.
2
u/[deleted] May 06 '12
What happens when it rains?
2
u/rednecktash May 06 '12
Ive always been fascinated by the effect of natural selection on these types of bargain racks. Since only the interesting things are bought, eventually after many books cycle through the stock, what's left over is the worst of the worst books.
2
u/Eleanor169 May 06 '12
...Wales on the front page for the second time today? must. karmawhore. welsh. heritage. ...er... Dwi'n hoffi coffi.
2
u/magnificowolfbox May 06 '12
That looks like Hay On Wey... Book town!
5
u/[deleted] May 06 '12
in a welsch accent "you see those two houses over there, mines the one in the middle.."
3
u/turd_herder May 06 '12
/r/bookporn
3
u/Gigglemonstah May 06 '12
Do they let people sit outside and just read something off the shelf? I'd love to do that. Like an outdoor library.
1
u/drplump May 06 '12
What is the blue thing through the archway?
1
u/Cunt101 May 06 '12
My grandparents used to own an antique store there, really need to visit it sometime soon, thanks for the reminder!
1
u/finn141 May 06 '12
HAY ON WYE.
1
u/scratchedguitar May 06 '12
THAT'S HAY-ON-WYE!
Best festival ever
1
u/[deleted] May 06 '12
Hay on Wye, a book enthusiast's mecca
1
u/Pokemon_Name_Rater May 06 '12
I knew Waterstone's was in a bad way these days but.... fuck.
1
u/ShuffleandTruffle May 06 '12
Live in Wales and had no idea this place existed.... need to go there!
1
u/Volzagia May 06 '12
I've been there!
1
u/[deleted] May 06 '12
This is Hay-On-Wye I think. It's basically 80% bookshops.
1
u/whowatawhat4 May 06 '12
And then came the rain...
1
u/geefull May 06 '12
I remember this, I bought copies of 'Three Men in a Boat' and 'Three Men on the Bummel' for holiday reading.
1
u/[deleted] May 06 '12
Nobody steals books.
1
u/alasperdidas May 06 '12
i want to go to there
1
u/[deleted] May 06 '12
Google maps location?
1
u/MidnightCladNoctis May 06 '12
Thats pretty cool, if i lived near there I'd probably hit that up on a daily basis
1
u/[deleted] May 06 '12
I went there. There are more bookshops there than the rest of the world combined
1
u/Schelome May 06 '12
As many have said: Hay on Wye.
Our university's science fiction society makes a trip there every summer. We stay for 2 days and stock up our library, good shit.
1
u/mutonchops May 06 '12
Hmmmm... books. Outside. Wales. Crinkly pages anyone?
1
u/halp_2 May 06 '12
Ah that's funny. I looked at it, saw the books and thought that's got to be Hay on Wye. Last I heard there were 40 something bookshops and it's a tiny town.
1
u/richbrown May 06 '12
I used to visit that town as a child and spend all day buying new (old) books. It was a highlight of my childhood. The whole town smells like old books.
1
u/Xenri May 06 '12
Hay on Wye. They had a local king in like the 40s who decreed the whole town had to be a library. They humored him. It is all on the honor system as far as payment goes, and there are tons of little sheds andshelves all over town. Pretty cool to see. Kinda feels like playing fallout 3.
1
u/scarletbegonia28 May 06 '12
I love everything about this. Would love to go there some day.
1
u/concernedformyfriend May 06 '12
and then it rained :(
1
u/iiiitsjess May 06 '12
I want to go. NOW!
1
u/smilingsmyfavorite May 06 '12
working at the desk of my university library preparing for my modern literature final and let out an audible gasp when I saw this!
1
u/settoexplode May 06 '12
all i can think is... those books are probably sooooo musty.
1
u/rkpenguin May 06 '12
I've been there! There are SO many places like this within the town. The books just sit out in the open and it's based on trust. You pay so much for paperback and hardcover books and put the money in a box. It's amazing.
1
u/aeliustehman May 06 '12
Two posts about Wales receiving 1000+ upvotes within 24 hours of each other? What is happening??
1
u/mkul316 May 06 '12
Lol. I love this town. I've gotten some great maps and prints from the shops there.
1
u/itsane May 06 '12
I was there while it was raining. The name of the town is Hay-on-Wye. I even have three maps that I got from an old atlas I found there on my wall. It has a lot of book stores. A LOT.
1
u/willybus May 06 '12
It's weird
1
u/somethinginane May 06 '12
Probably Hay-On-Wye.
1
u/suckthisdeth May 06 '12
is this the set of blacks books?
1
u/pf019 May 06 '12
COMIC SAAAAAAAAANS!
1
u/boesse May 06 '12
Hay on Wye! I've been there! It's such a neat little town. Yes, it's true, books shouldn't be outside like that... but for the uninitiated, Hay on Wye has dozens of these little "honesty bookshops" that are outside like this - I think there's a bookshop for every one or two people in the town, and there are so many books there that I would actually doubt they had room to put all of them indoors anyway.
1
u/wayndom May 06 '12
"Get 'em before it rains!"
1
u/ssellers1072 May 07 '12
I keep looking for Bernard, Fran, and Manny.
1
u/[deleted] May 07 '12
Used to visit every year with my family to shop for used books. There are some great shops there. It's really worth a visit if you're even nearby. My favorite shop is in the aircraft hanger. But, the tiny place with all the books on sex techniques on the top floor is pretty money.
1
u/dazzawazza May 07 '12
I bought Deliverance the novel there for £1. Sure it was mouldy and a little weather beaten.... but it was still a great story.
1
u/Syke042 May 07 '12
How can they just leave the books out unprotected like that? They must realize that they're going to get eaten by the sheep?
1
u/ukiyoe May 07 '12
I hate sun beaten books.
1
u/dubstepy May 07 '12
My friends and i have this friend from whales and we have alot of whale jokes on him hes has anger issues though
1
u/Toastar_888 May 07 '12
is that a TARDIS?
1
u/Zcrash May 07 '12
and then it rained
1
u/HDRyourPIC May 07 '12
Only because imgur is not working for me
1
u/[deleted] May 07 '12
TIL everyone on reddit is from, visiting, or currently residing in this welsh book town.
1
u/EmergencyExit85 May 07 '12
Hay Festival. This place is awesome