One of my favorite places in Oxford is Blackwell Bookshop, right in the heart of the city on Broad Street. On the outside it looks like a small, dusty old bookshop but looks can be deceiving. It is so much bigger than it looks. Once inside, the store seems to go on for blocks with miles of bookshelves filled with the most wonderful books. You can find anything at Blackwell. I never go inside unless I have an hour or two to kill – it’s that kind of bookshop.
The Oxford’s shop is the original store that was founded in 1879 by Benjamin Henry Blackwell, son of a local librarian. Benjamin finished school at age 13 and learned the bookselling trade as an apprentice to a local bookseller. This first flagship shop was originally only twelve feet square but quickly grew to incorporate the upstairs, cellar and neighboring shops.
Benjamin Henry's son Basil became the first Blackwell to go to university. He attended Merton College at Oxford and then joined the family firm in 1913, after a spell as an apprentice publisher in London. He was tasked with expanding his father's publishing business, which helped launch the careers of many writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.
The company has made a determined policy since the 1990s to spread out from its traditional Oxford base and become a much broader UK presence. Blackwell’s now has over 60 retail outlets across the UK, including a number of specialist shops, with several medical outlets. The company is still in the hands of the Blackwell family.
The Norrington room was opened in 1966 and named
after Sir Arthur Norrington, President of Trinity College. It has three miles of
shelving with 10,000 square feet making it the largest single room selling books.
About 40 miles south east from Oxford, in the beautiful Chiltern Hills, is the lovely Tree Barn located in the little village of Christmas Common. It is only open for the 6 weeks before Christmas. It is filled to the brim with all kinds of trimmings, decorations, gifts, wreaths, lights and wrappings. It has everything you need for a spectacular Christmas. It also has trees of every size. In fact, their trees are so lovely that they have been tree supplier for #10 Downing Street for 2012 and 2013.
It's well worth a visit if you want to get into the holiday spirit. The staff greets each visitor with warm spiced apple cider and cookies. And it is well worth a visit just to see the beauty of the Chiltern Hills and the quaint village of Christmas Common.
The Tree Barn, Greenfield Farm, Christmas Common, Watlington, Ofordshire, OX49 5HG
Three years ago when we had just arrived in England, some new friends invited me to lunch at the Burford Garden Center. I thought it was a bit unusual to have lunch in a garden center on a cold rainy day in the middle of December. I assumed we were going to a nursery. What I didn't know was that British garden centers are so much more than just nurseries. Yes, they are nurseries, but they are also amazing gift, antique, toy and housewares stores, filled with all kinds or treasures and delicious foods. I now know that if I'm looking for something special, fun, unusual, or quintessentially British, I'll find it at a British garden store.
Garden Centers around Oxford:
