11th March 2010

ILMINSTER: Save our bookshop!

By Marion Draper

AN ILMINSTER bookshop owner is making an appeal to keep the shop open after he retires.

The town is well known for its small individual shops, making it a popular choice for those seeking personal service, and like many traders in the town he wants to help keep the status quo.

Ile Valley Books has been in Silver Street for 25 years and now owner Chris Chapman wants to sell the shop lease to give him time to concentrate on his own writing.

There are two years left on the current lease, which, he believes, would be renewed without difficulty and Mr Chapman is anxious that the shop should remain as a bookshop.

Uniquely by today’s standards he is not just chasing the mighty pound and refuses to part with the lease to just anyone but is holding out for someone to continue the service which he, and his customers, see as an important part of the town.

Mr Chapman, whose wife Marjory also runs a bookshop in Lyme Regis said: “It is a very satisfactory, happy business, known for its goodwill.

“I could dispose of the lease very easily for something other than books, but I prefer it to stay as a bookshop so I am waiting for the right person. Ideally, someone who will go on working with Sheila. She is not an employee, she works with me. Sheila has MS and needs a mobility scooter to get about, it is nice for her to come to the shop it gets her out to meet people and have a purpose, and it’s easy for her to go into Bilby’s for her lunch.

“It is a privilege to be in a position to be able to do this and I hope something will work out.”

Sheila Hughes-Williams currently helps in the shop three days a week and said she would be very sad to see it go.

“I think it could be run as a co-operative like people are starting to do with village shops and pubs. It would be nice if a few interested people would come forward and we could discuss the possibility. It is lovely that we can have this unique situation and I hope someone will come forward.”

PICTURE: Sheila Hughes- Williams hoping for a co-operative to keep Ile Valley Bookshop in Ilminster

ILMINSTER: Save our bookshop!

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