Second-hand bookshop sales reach £750,000 at National Trust property near Warwick

The National Trust is highlighting a major sales milestone reached by the second-hand bookstore at one of its historic properties near Warwick.

The shop at Baddesley Clinton has now raised £750,000 thanks to donations of books from the public and the dedicated work of its volunteers.

The funds raised by the shop, since it opened in the 1990s, have gone towards conservation projects, repairs and restoring some of the oldest books in the Grade I listed moated manor house’s library.

Clive Paterson, the bookshop’s volunteer manager, said: ‘When I first came in March 1995, I spent a couple of days in the bookshop.

"We realised quite quickly that many of our visitors are great readers and enthusiasm for the shop just grew and grew.

"From humble beginnings in a tiny first aid room, we have now expanded into several rooms.”

The books at the shop cover a wide variety of tastes, genres and subjects and many are like new.

Stephen Spinks, Baddesley Clinton’s general manager, said: “It’s wonderful to see the popularity of our second-hand bookshop go from strength to strength over the years, from humble beginnings to a bookshop boasting thousands of books of all different types of genres.

"We’re so grateful for the many books that have been generously donated by visitors and of course the number of hours our volunteers put into the book shop.”

“We’d like to say a particular thank you to Clive, who has dedicated much of the last three decades to the bookshop at Baddesley, often working between five and seven days a week, sharing recommendations with visitors, managing stock, as well as a team of passionate volunteers.

"We are so grateful for his dedication to the bookshop and thankful for all of the conservation projects he has helped us to achieve past, present and hopefully long into the future.”

For more information about Baddesley Clinton visit the website http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/baddesleyclinton