Tag: Waterstones

Wakefield – Friday 8th December 2017

Wakefield is the fourth largest town (it’s a city, actually) in West Yorkshire with a population of around 100,000 – the 14th Century Cathedral has the tallest spire in Yorkshire, standing at 75m (247 feet) tall.  It’s a really attractive building – light and airy inside, with a modern extension used as a shop and ‘not for profit’ coffee shop.

The Waterstones is near to the cathedral, and like the cathedral has a bright and spacious feel.  

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I would like to return to visit the Hepworth Gallery some time.

Harrogate – Thursday 7th December 2017

Harrogate is a beautiful Spa town in North Yorkshire – famous for its Spa Waters, Betty’s Tearooms and as being the destination that Agatha Christie chose when she did her famous disappearing act in 1926!  The Waterstones is in an attractive building and set over two floors with a very nice café.

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There are (at least?) two theatre venues in Harrogate, the gorgeous, if unimaginatively titled Harrogate Theatre, and also the Royal Hall, in which we were lucky enough to get the last two tickets for the The Nutcracker, performed by the Russian State Ballet, which was simply magical. 

Harrogate Theatre Entrance Lobby

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Royal Hall

We were in Harrogate for three nights, but could happily have spent longer in this lovely, vibrant town – I’m sure we’ll return some day.  

York – Wednesday 6th December 2017

We love York – it’s a fab city.  There is so much to do here – the Train Museum, the Castle Museum (our favourite), the Jorvik Centre and of course The Minster to name but a few.  The Waterstones here is in a lovely building and has a really cosy feel about it.  The coffee shop here was very nice – I can recommend the teacakes!

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York Minster

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The Shambles

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Oldham – Tuesday 5th December 2017

Another flying visit on our way to Harrogate – I just had time to pop into the shopping centre, leaving Peter in the car.  Apparently in 2016 Oldham was named the most deprived town in England – however, I believe there is quite a lot of investment in the area, so hopefully that will turns thing round.  The area I saw – a modern shopping centre called The Spindles which houses the Waterstones, certainly seemed quite bright and didn’t feel ‘deprived’.

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Bury – Tuesday 5th December 2017

We stopped briefly in Bury just so I could visit and photograph the Waterstones, so I don’t really have much to say about this town.  The Waterstones is in the Mill Gate shopping centre. Apparently Bury is famous for its Black Pudding!  Famous former residents include Richmal Crompton, author of the Just William books, and Sir Robert Peel who founded the first police force in the UK and singer-songwriter Peter Skellern.

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Bolton – Tuesday 5th December 2017

The next stop on our trip to Harrogate was Bolton – again, another town we had never been to before.  There are some pretty buildings here, including the Town Hall and Le Mans Crescent – I should have liked a bit more time to visit some of the museums.  The Waterstones here is in a building that used to house a cinema, although there is not much evidence of its past inside.

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Fred Dibnah, the famous steeplejack, hails from Bolton
The Town Hall

Wigan – Tuesday 5th December 2017

We had a few days in Harrogate at the start of December.  Originally we had planned to go to Edinburgh, so I booked a hotel off the M6 in Merseyside, but the plans changed!  We decided to utilise the trip from west to east by visiting a couple of branches that were en route.

Neither of us had been to Wigan before and weren’t really sure what to expect.  In fact, the only thing I really knew is that it features in George Orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier (well worth a read).  There are some nice buildings in the town, including a pretty Arcade called the Makinson Arcade.  The Waterstones is in the Grand Arcade shopping centre.

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Makinson Arcade

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The Wigan Pier area. Probably considerably different from when Orwell visited!

So if you are told that there’s a pier in Wigan town somewhere Don’t laugh it off like others do, look round, you’ll see it there

I keep forgetting to record what I was reading at the time of my visit!  In this case it was Winter Magic, a collection of wintery stories selected by Abi Elphinstone and featuring authors such as Emma Carroll and Katherine Woodfine.  Perfect seasonal reading!

Islington – Saturday 4th November 2017

After leaving my friends in Kent I went to stay with my friend Debi in London.  She’s one of those friends whom I don’t see very often, but we just pick up where we left off.   Here we are aged about 7/8!

Bay City Rollers

Debi took me to lots of different parts of London that I had not been to before, including The Barbican Complex, built in the architectural style known as ‘Brutalist’ and also to Islington, where I, of course, made a visit to Waterstones.  This branch is situated on the site of an old Music Hall, Collins’.  It’s a lovely building, although only the façade is original, the building having been destroyed by fire in 1935.

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Barbican

I thought Islington was a lovely part of London.  I will definitely go back with Peter at some stage to explore further.

Chatham – Tuesday 31st October 2017

I stayed in the South East for a few days with friends and decided to visit Rochester one day whilst they were at work, as it’s a city I really love.  Actually, I don’t think it’s a city any longer due to the forgetting to renew their city status, but either way it holds fond memories for me – it’s the place I had my first ever job!  As there is a Waterstone’s in Chatham, which is the next town on, I decided to get off the bus there and then walk back into Rochester once I’d taken my photographs.

Chatham Waterstones is in a modern building over two floors. 

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They have a sign for the children’s section with a missing apostrophe!  That’s not very good for a book shop!

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Whoops!

I enjoyed my trip to Rochester.  It’s such a lovely city with a cathedral and a castle, and many links to Dickens who lived there as a boy. Happy memories.

Weston-super-Mare – Sunday 1st October 2017

Weston-super-Mare is a traditional seaside town located in the Bristol Channel in Somerset.  It is a popular holiday destination.  The Waterstones is located in the Sovereign Shopping Centre which was built in the early 90s.

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Weston is best known for its Grand Pier which opened in 1904 and has burnt down twice – most recently in 2008 – and for the fact that the tide goes out for miles – giving rise to the local nickname Weston-super-Mud!