Secondhand and Antiquarian Bookshops in the UK and Republic of Ireland
News:
New listing Damascus Drum Hawick
New shop Night Owl Books East Linton
The Book Room Melrose closed in October 2024
new listing Scott's Selkirk
new listing Walk This Way Coldstream
new listing Reuse Scotland North Berwick
new listing Zero Waste Reuse Hub Dunbar
new shop St Columba_s Hospice Care North Berwick
Heron & Willow (new books) has secondhand book sales monthly
new shop The Signal Box Galashiels
Night Owl Books Eat Linton now sells only new books
Open at advertised times
Phone before travelling
Appointment necessary
Status unknown, update requested
We do our best to make sure these details are correct and up-to-date. However we recommend that you contact bookshops before making a special journey.
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Border Reader Bookshop/MELROSE/Old Melrose Furniture StudioRavenswood
The Border Reader Bookshop
Old Melrose Furniture Studio Ravenswood MELROSE TD6 9DF
map
tel:
01835 824597 e-mail
Open: 7 days 11.00 - 5.00
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Reached from a small right hand turn off the A68 just south of the roundabout. Small but select range of secondhand books; quality fiction and poetry, academic and general non-fiction, with an emphasis on philosophy, literary/ cultural theory, and history, plus classical CDs. Beautiful off road setting, with cafe, antiques, gifts and furniture showrooms on site.
Upstairs in farm courtyard off the A68. Good interesting stock. (No mass mkt p/backs and celeb. biogs.) Found 2 unusual art history titles. Stock not yet online so well worth a visit. Chris K 27.07.11
Well worth a detour, this small attic shop is completely devoid of coffee table and mass market clutter, and the focus is on quality titles. Prices very reasonable. At the time of writing, cards are not accepted so you will need to bring some cash. An added bonus is the little coffee shop below. Steven Kelly 21.11.13
Worth noting they put the book price on a slip of paper at the BACK, confusing at first as some old prices still exist at the front and only a smal notice to explain this. lovely place to visit. PaulP 01.03.14
Lovely location above a cafe and antique centre. Signposted from main road, not in Melrose Books well displayed (confusingly prices are on postit at back) but mostly very common titles, didn't find anything to purchase. HB 22.09.19
I'm afraid this has gone. A visit yesterday to the site marked on the linked map revealed no commercial activity, and the website is down. MO 08.09.24
I'm very sorry. I think that map has misled you. The marker is placed at the centre of the postcode area, which in sparsely populated areas can be quite large. The shop, antiques centre and cafe are in Old Melrose Farm, reached from the right turn south of the roundabout. I'll point this out in the description.
True, the shop website is gone, also their Facebook page. But Google Maps shows a photo of bookcases from November and the last review, a month old, mentions the books. TBG2 08.09.24
Damascus Drum/HAWICK/2 Silver Street
Damascus Drum
2 Silver Street HAWICK TD9 0AD
map
tel:
07707 856 123 e-mail web 
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.00 - 3.00
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Café and second-hand bookshop. Also sells Anatolian rugs!
I am not keen on this type of hybrid outlet, but this bookshop/café is actually fairly good on both counts. The walls of the back room are lined with bookshelves and there are a couple of smaller bookcases at the front of the premises. The quality is quite good. There are 15 shelves of fiction, some middlebrow, but plenty of literary novels and not much dross. One shelf of crime fiction/thrillers and a few small shelves of classics. Paperbacks mostly £2.50/£3, a few £3.50; hardback prices vary but are fairly reasonable in the main. A few dozen children's books (paperbacks £1.50-£2.50), a single shelf of poetry and a small selection of plays, as well as a few shelves of good-quality Scottish literature and books about Scotland.
The non-fiction includes four shelves of books on 'mysticism, philosophy, metaphysics and spiritual writings'. Not really my thing, but if it happens to be yours, you might be pleasantly surprised. Also two or three shelves of history, one on the ancient world, quite a few travel books and a small stock of biographies of mixed quality. Other than that, the non-fiction is rather hit and miss, although the prices are generally OK.
One inevitable drawback of the layout here is that many of the shelves in the back room are readily obscured by customers at the tables. On my visit, diners amenably moved a few inches to allow people to look at the books. Nevertheless, I would suggest coming here as soon as it opens at 11am. The bookshelves in the front room are easier to access and, although the stock there seems quite a random assortment (recent arrivals, perhaps), there is some quality to be found, so do not overlook these.
Damascus Drum is slightly tucked away, at the other side of the Slitrig Water from the High Street and the main commercial area of the town, just across Drumlanrig Bridge. Barely a minute's walk away, at 10 High Street, is Oxfam (Monday-Saturday 9.30am-4pm), where the very small stock of books is priced very cheaply: all fiction is £1. The shop is about a ten-minute walk from Hawick's main bus stops at Mart Street. The X95 links Hawick to Galashiels, Selkirk, Carlisle and Edinburgh; route 20 serves Kelso and Jedburgh; and the 128 Newcastleton. Booker T 09.10.25
Heron _ Willow/JEDBURGH/4 Canongate
Heron & Willow
4 Canongate JEDBURGH TD8 6AJ
map
tel:
07780 857138 e-mail web
Open: For second-hand books, 9.00 - 4.00 on the last Saturday of each month
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Monthly second-hand book sale at a shop that otherwise sells new books.
Heron & Willow, Jedburgh's only bookshop, opened its doors in 2023. Situated in the heart of the town centre, its main business is in new books. However, since February 2025 it has staged a regular sale of second-hand books on the last Saturday of each month. The number of second-hand books has increased significantly since the early sales and is now quite sizeable. There is a wide range of fiction, both modern and older titles, and a varied stock of non-fiction, as well as children's books. The quality is rather mixed, but generally quite good. All books are priced at £3 each, or two for £5, except children's books, which are £2 each.
The sales take place in the back yard of the premises, which can be accessed via the alleyway next to the shop. The second-hand bookroom is housed in a small building, formerly used as a foundry, which has recently been revamped, with more bookshelves installed. Additional stock is placed in a gazebo in the yard. Although the second-hand book sales are held just once a month, they have become an integral part of the shop's operations: the turnover is quite high and there is plenty of fresh stock at each sale.
For new books, Heron & Willow is open from Wednesday to Saturday from 9am to 4pm and on Sundays from 10am to 3pm. Although it opened only two years ago, it was a finalist for Independent Bookshop of the Year in the UK Book Awards in both 2024 and 2025.
Jedburgh's vast ruined Augustinian abbey is another good reason to visit the town, which is located on the A68. The railway station is long gone, but Jedburgh has bus links with Galashiels, Tweedbank and Melrose (route 68; rail connections at the two first-named places), Kelso and Hawick (20), and Newcastle (X74). Booker T 29.08.25
Pennyfarthing/NORTH BERWICK/23 Quality Street
The Pennyfarthing
23 Quality Street NORTH BERWICK EH39 4HR
map
tel:
01620 89 0114
Open: Monday - Friday 10.00 (ish) - 5.00, Sunday 2.00 - 5.00.
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Priorsford Books/PEEBLES/11 Northgate
Priorsford Books
11 Northgate PEEBLES EH45 8RX
map
tel:
07522 934770 e-mail web
Open: Tuesday - Wednesday 10.30 - 4.30, Thursday 10.30 - 4.00, Friday 11.00 - 4.30, Saturday 10.30 - 4.30 but check Facebook or Twitter
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Strong on children's collectables, also general Scottish interest, women's fiction, crime, Greyladies, Folio, social history, magazine, prints and literary gifts.
Small shop, beautifully laid out, some new books, also prints, magazines and book related gifts. Strong on children's, folio, John and Anna Buchan, women's fiction, orange penguins, Persephone etc Some Scottish interest. Not open every day. HB 22.09.19
Priorsford Books is changing ownership TBG2 07.07.21
Now advertising opening times of 10.30 am to 4.30 pm on Wednesdays to Saturdays, and 10.30 am to 4.00 pm on Sundays, subject to changes notified on Facebook and Twitter. Wessexman 06.09.21
Small but well laid out with stock generally in very good condition. Strong on Scottish interest, literary biogs, history and fiction, when I called in. Easy to browse - it is really just 2 small rooms. Sadly nothing in my interests (general and old TV/film biogs, military history and football) today. But if you're calling in to the shop in Innerleithen (and you should), this is only a few miles away so well worth the trip.
Peebles is very busy and touristy. Traffic is rather busy too. Park in the east car park near Sainsburys. Walk through Sainsburys and exit the opposite door - you're in Northgate 50 yards or so from the shop. Saves you a long walk. Flip M 27.07.22
A very nice shop, albeit a small one, with decent-quality stock at reasonable prices. The fiction stock is quite small, but good. There are about 100 paperbacks in the general fiction section, along with 100 crime novels, at £3-£3.50. Also about 180 Penguins (mostly £3.50-£4.50, but a few of the 60 vintage ones are £5). Only a small stock of sci-fi. For hardbacks, there are about 150 novels, mostly early/mid 20th-century, as well as a few shelves of classics and some crime novels, reasonably priced in the main. About 70 Folio Society books, mostly £10-£15. A couple of shelves of poetry, with a few good volumes, but very little drama. The shop is notably strong for Scottish literature: a very good selection, including some nice first editions. Separate sections for the works of John Buchan and R.L. Stevenson, both of whom had Peebles connections. Also a good stock of vintage children's fiction as well as about 50 old children's annuals (prices for a few of the latter are a bit steep), and a small selection of modern paperbacks (£2.50-£3). A few dozen interesting vintage comics ('The Hornet', 'Adventure' etc), very reasonably priced at £2.50-£3.
The non-fiction is particularly strong for Scottish books, with an excellent selection of titles on Scottish history, topography, outdoor pursuits and local interest. The non-fiction stock is mostly in hardback. Other sections - some of them quite small - with good quality include transport, history, architecture, geography, natural history, country sports and travel. About 70 OS maps (£3). Some very good biographies, especially of literary figures. A small stock of Observers (£5).
The very pleasant owner runs this shop on her own, and so inevitably there are occasions when unscheduled closures occur. Check the social media accounts if travelling a long distance. It does not always open on time at 10.30am, but the delay is rarely more than half an hour. For those with Scottish interests, the shop is well worth visiting. For others, its small size may make the rewards less tangible, but Peebles is a lovely town, and if in the Scottish Borders, you should probably visit it in any case. The nearest railway station is 18 miles away, at Galashiels, but the X62 bus provides a half-hourly service from there, as well as from Edinburgh. Other, less frequent, bus services connect Peebles with Biggar (91) and West Linton (93). Booker T 07.10.25
Reuse Scotland /NORTH BERWICK/19-21 Station Hill
Reuse Scotland
19-21 Station Hill NORTH BERWICK EH39 4AS
map
tel:
07793 559675 e-mail web
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.30 - 4.30, Sunday 10.30 - 4.00
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Recycling centre with a pay-what-you-want second-hand bookshop.
This large recycling outlet opened in October 2023 in the former Wilkie's clothing store in North Berwick town centre. A wide range of goods and products are donated here for reuse. There is a book department with a sizeable stock of fiction and non-fiction, including some vintage titles, as well as a good selection of children's books. As at the Zero Waste Reuse Hub in Dunbar, which is also run by Reuse Scotland, customers are invited to pay whatever price they think is fair for their books. All proceeds are donated to local food banks, charities and community groups. The premises are only a couple of minutes from the railway station. Booker T 13.06.25
Scott_s Selkirk/SELKIRK/18 Market Place
Scott's Selkirk
18 Market Place SELKIRK TD7 4BT
map
tel:
01750 22217 and 07934 978028 e-mail web
Open: Tuesday - Saturday 10.00 - 4.00, but quite often open until 4.30 or 5.00
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Second-hand charity bookshop with wide-ranging general stock. Low prices.
The royal burgh of Selkirk has strong associations with Sir Walter Scott. An annual event is held on the first weekend of October in which the life and times of the author are celebrated, with street performances, readings, courtroom re-enactments, music, market stalls and many other activities. This long-established bookshop helps to fund the festival. It has a sizeable stock of second-hand books, mostly sold at low prices (typically £1.50), and also a few new books by local authors. The shop is in the heart of the town centre. It is the only outlet in Selkirk where second-hand books are sold in any quantity, so don't miss it if visiting. Selkirk railway station closed decades ago, but the town can be reached on the hourly X95 Edinburgh-Carlisle bus service (half-hourly on the Galashiels-Hawick section of the route, which serves Selkirk) as well as on the hourly 73 route from Galashiels. Booker T 08.04.25
Quite a decent charity bookshop in an attractive town, Scott's Selkirk would be worth a look if you are anywhere nearby. Modestly sized, but well laid-out, with some good-quality stock as well as many typical charity-shop books. Paperbacks are £1.50 and hardbacks £2 unless otherwise priced. The general fiction shelves contain about 1,200 books (predominantly paperbacks), spanning the whole gamut but including a sizeable proportion of literary titles. Also three shelves of classic novels, including plenty of hardbacks. A shelf of poetry and plays, with the odd good volume. Also quite a large selection of children's books: for these, pay whatever you can afford.
Among the non-fiction, the Scottish and local interest books are notably good, but some of the best are robustly priced. Art, architecture, history, music, travel, cookery, needlework/crafts, gardening and natural history all contain at least some above-average stock, although some of these sections are on the small side. About 50 OS maps. Also a few interesting books in the philosophy and religion section. One disappointment was the biographies (four shelves): very much mass-market, with only a handful of exceptions. The shop is officially open until 4pm, but often stays open until 4.30 or even 5pm. All the money raised from the books is put back into the town. Booker T 09.10.25
Scottish Ornithologists_ Club Bookshop /ABERLADY/Waterston House
Scottish Ornithologists' Club Bookshop
Waterston House ABERLADY EH32 0PY
map
tel:
01875 871330 e-mail web
Open: Thursday - Sunday 10.00 - 5.00 or by appointment
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Secondhand books covering a broad range of (world-wide) ornithology and natural history subjects. Collections include New Naturalist and Bannerman titles. The SOC is a registered Scottish charity (SC 009859)
Signal Box/GALASHIELS/2 Channel Street
The Signal Box
2 Channel Street GALASHIELS TD1 1BA
map
tel:
01896 753296 e-mail
Open: Tuesday, Friday, Saturday 10.00 - 2.00, sometimes later on Saturdays
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Second-hand bookshop in town centre. Varied stock, although books on railways are a perennial mainstay.
The Signal Box, which opened in February 2025, is a second-hand bookshop run by the Borders Railway Community Partnership, a group that promotes the Borders railway line, which fell victim to the Beeching Axe in 1969, but reopened in 2015 between Edinburgh Waverley and Tweedbank. The shop also sells DVDs, games, CDs and railway memorabilia, but is primarily a bookshop. The proceeds go towards supporting the Borders railway and community projects in the Galashiels area.
The Signal Box - Gala's only second-hand bookshop - has a wide-ranging stock. Two of the largest sections are books on railways (perhaps not surprisingly) and also children's books. It is in the centre of town, a very short walk from Galashiels railway station, the penultimate stop on the Borders line.
Galashiels can be reached by bus from Melrose (most frequent routes: 51, 60, 67 and 68), Duns (60), Berwick on Tweed (60, 67), Lauder (51), Peebles (X62), Innerleithen (X62), Selkirk (73, X95), Hawick (X95), Kelso (67), Jedburgh (68) and Carlisle (X95). The 51 and X95 bus routes connect the town with Edinburgh, but the train is considerably quicker. Booker T 30.08.25
The Signal Box is only a small shop, although there are thoughts of extending the retail space into an area currently used for storage. The prices are low: most paperbacks £1 and most hardbacks £2. But with one major exception, the standard is typical charity-shop, at best. That exception is books on railways, of which there is a fair-sized stock (eight shelves), much of it individually priced, although mostly not too expensive. The fiction, most of which is in paperback, is predominantly mid/mass-market: 180 generally lowbrow books in the general fiction section, and also 300 crime/thrillers, including recently published hardbacks, and 120 romances. A couple of shelves of historical fiction, three of 'myth and legend' fiction, and a single shelf of classics. The children's section is quite large, given the shop's size, and also quite good. For non-fiction - railways excepted - the books are fairly mundane, although the odd better title may be found. Four shelves of biographies (mostly celebrity tosh) and small sections for gardening, horse riding, natural history, cookery, travel and health. Also a few OS and other maps (£1).
The Signal Box might be WAD if railway books are your interest. At present, it is operating reduced hours owing to a shortage of volunteers: four hours, three days a week, although sometimes it stays open longer on a Saturday. The shop will be closed for the whole of January 2026.
Few would rank Galashiels as the prettiest of the towns in the Scottish Borders, but it has two big things in its favour. It is the home of the Great Tapestry of Scotland - directly opposite the Signal Box in an award-winning new building, and well worth seeing - and it also has by far the best public transport links. The entire region was well and truly Beechinged in the 1960s, but Gala is the only large town here that has so far made it back on to the rail network, to which it was reconnected in 2015. The bus links are the region's best too. In addition to the services listed in the previous write-up, the X62 (as well as the X95) links Gala to Edinburgh. The X62 also serves Peebles and Innerleithen, each of which also has a second-hand bookshop, although in the latter's case not for much longer, alas. Booker T 09.10.25
The shop will be CLOSED all of January 2026 TBG2 09.10.25
St Columba_s Hospice Care/NORTH BERWICK/41 Westgate
St Columba's Hospice Care
41 Westgate NORTH BERWICK EH39 4AG
map
tel:
0131 287 6672 e-mail web
Open: Tuesday - Saturday 9.00 - 4.00
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Second-hand bookshop and café, opened in June 2025. Sizeable stock of books.
St Columba's Hospice opened this bookshop and coffee shop on 3rd June in the former Westgate gallery in the centre of North Berwick. It also sells gifts and stationery, but the second-hand books - which occupy the main part of the premises, with the café at the rear - are the prime focus. There is quite a large stock of books here. Before opening, more than 5,000 had been donated and the shop has been very busy in its opening fortnight. North Berwick, on the East Lothian coast, is a very affluent town indeed and a ready source of good-quality donations. The shop is a five-minute walk from North Berwick railway station, which has an hourly train service from Edinburgh. Bus services from Edinburgh (X5 and 124), Dunbar (120) and Haddington (121 and 122) stop very nearby at Beach Road. Booker T 13.06.25
Walk This Way/COLDSTREAM/60 High Street
Walk This Way
60 High Street COLDSTREAM TD12 4DH
map
tel:
01890 883355 e-mail web
Open: Monday - Friday 9.30 - 5.00, Saturday 9.30 - 1.00
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Militaria and army surplus shop, established in 1995. Wide range of stock, including second-hand military books.
The enjoyably idiosyncratic Walk This Way has been a fixture in the border town of Coldstream for 30 years. As well as medals, cap badges and insignia, clothing, and a wide range of British and foreign military ephemera including vintage maps and photographs, it has a fairly small but good stock of second-hand books on military subjects. There may be a few books on other topics, such as country sports, from time to time, but military life and history are the shop's raison d'être. The prices, although not cheap, are broadly reasonable. In the cellar of the premises is a small museum with interesting military items on display. The owner, Trevor, is enthusiastic and very knowledgeable. Dogs are made very welcome!
Coldstream is an attractive place, on the north bank of the River Tweed, just across the border from England. Walk This Way is right in the centre of town. The 67 bus runs every two hours and connects the town to Berwick-upon-Tweed, Kelso, Melrose and Galashiels. On Monday to Friday only, the 34 bus from Duns makes two return trips to Coldstream. Booker T 22.05.25
Zero Waste Reuse Hub (Reuse Scotland)/DUNBAR/Unit 2, Countess Crescent
Zero Waste Reuse Hub (Reuse Scotland)
Unit 2, Countess Crescent DUNBAR EH42 1DX
map
tel:
07793 559675 e-mail web
Open: Monday - Saturday 10.00 - 5.00, Sunday 10.00 - 4.30
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Recycling centre with a pay-what-you-want second-hand bookshop.
Dunbar is the headquarters of Reuse Scotland, a charity that works to divert reusable materials away from landfill for community benefit. The Zero Waste Reuse Hub opened here in a former supermarket in 2017. It has a large second-hand book department with a wide choice of donated books. Customers can choose what price to pay. All proceeds are ploughed back into the community, helping the disadvantaged and vulnerable, and improving the local environment.
The premises are about a seven-minute walk from Dunbar railway station, which is served by eight trains a day from Edinburgh (five on Sundays) during the hub's opening hours, with a similar number of trains from Berwick-on-Tweed. Buses from Edinburgh (X7 and 253, the latter Monday-Saturday only), Musselburgh (107), North Berwick (120) and Berwick on Tweed (253, not Sundays) stop nearby on the High Street and at the railway station. Booker T 13.06.25
