Topping & Company Booksellers of Bath

Driver Jatt

Topping & Company Booksellers of Bath

Right. Topping & Company Booksellers of Bath. Are you a reader? Do you like books? Well, step inside and check this bad boy out. I’m telling you.

Collected from Birmingham, dropped to a small industrial unit ten miles from Bath. Job done. I was hunting for an Indian restaurant. Like a moth to a bright light I was drawn in. Entered a world of books.

Located in the old Quakers Meeting House in Bath this place was brimming with books from floor to ceiling. The basement, the gallery, them ladders mounted on runners (which all work) allowing you access to the top shelves. Just like a fancy classical library you see in the movies.

Now, the building itself has a history. The Quakers, or the Religious Society of Friends, started in the 1600s in England . They were a radical lot back then. They believed you didn’t need a priest or a fancy church to find God you just had to look for the “inner light” inside yourself . They were big on equality and peace, which got them into a lot of trouble . They were also among the very first groups to stand up and officially condemn slavery, which is something not many people know . So, to stand in their old meeting house, now a temple to stories, felt like being in a place with some proper, quiet backbone to it.

Topping & Company Booksellers of Bath is where I am. Or was. I’m back in the van now.

Here is their website: https://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/bath/

I didn’t buy anything as I have enough on my reading shelf and next to my bed as it is. I’m an audiobook man these days. Got to be, in this job. You can’t read a paperback on the M42.

Let’s talk about the benefits of audiobooks for a second, because they’re a game changer. For a courier, they turn dead time into something good. A long haul up to Scotland or a crawl around the M25 isn’t wasted; you’re getting through a story or learning something new. If you find one that’s long and interesting, it can last for days. You look forward to getting back in the cab just to see what happens next. It makes the miles exciting, not just a chore. It’s the perfect multitasker’s tool.

However…… just look at this place! Tell me it doesn’t entice. Go on then. Do it. You can’t, right. Because it definitely does entice. A whole shop of quiet, paper, and history, when my world is engine noise and sat-nav instructions. Thankfully for me my search for food was more important that day. Priorities.

Ps – there’s a comfy looking sofa there too and be warned. If you are a reader you can spend a lot more time than you realised in there. I didn’t sit down. Knew I’d never leave. I had an audiobook waiting for the drive home, and a curry to find.

Enjoy the pics. Found a temple of books in a house of peace, while looking for a curry. Not a bad detour at all.