Fifth FAB Food Fest

This is the fifth year of Wimborne's amazing Food-Fest weekends - a foodies heaven and a place of pilgrimage for all who want a great day out, with free entertainment and retro rides for the children.

The town was packed full of events, people, the smells of cooking and music. It doesn't get much better - even the sun joined in the fun.

We took a few photos from outside Gullivers - all you need to do is add a little music, the laughter of the crowds, and the aromas from the kitchens.

One of the shots shows Malcolm, on a busy, noisy corner of the Minster Green, about to lead a crowd off on a spooky guided tour through the historic streets of our ancient and remarkable town.

The Food Fest Literary fringe was also a great success. I'm going to include some info and photo's hopefully later today. Don't confuse this with our own Lit Fest next week - it's all happening here.

FOOD FESTIVAL LITERARY FRINGE

ANDY HAMILTON: author of
BOOZE FOR FREE 




















                                                                            
JOSCELINE DIMBLEBY: ORCHARDS IN THE OASIS

 

  

 LUCAS HOLWEG: GOOD THINGS TO EAT

Ready for the Autumn

We dug out our old friend Padington - he is thirty this year and despite having fed a few moths along the way we reckon he still looks pretty good for his age!

BANKSY CLOSING IN ON VINTAGE RAILWAY

Each year the demand for quality calendars gets earlier - we've had our carefully selected range out for a few weeks now. And we always guessed that, as in past years, the nostalgic Railway Poster calendars would probably be the best seller. That's not about sentimentality - but because they simply are stunningly well illustrated - an art style that lifts the heart - and a bold image that people clearly want to see on their walls. However, this year the Banksy Grid Calendar is close on the heals of our best sellers, and we're having a fine time trying to keep up with the demand! It's all about the cover picture. It speaks a thousand words. Banksy has struck the right cord.  



ENTER THE DRAGON

The Allen runs through our beautiful town. Chroniclers tell us this water gave the town its name - Wimborne, deriving from the Saxon wine stream, 'because the water is sweeter than all in the land'. It teams with wild life; Salmon, swimming upstream among the trout and grayling, Grey Crayfish, searching the chalk gravel bed, water voles, wild fowl and Otters playing on the surface. While from the loose-strife and tall aquatic plants along the ledges, the Dragonflies emerge in all their rainbow glory. One decided last week to pay us a call; the size of a man's hand, it flew in and stayed a while among the children's literature before visiting our younger readers window. It settled on one of the books, and for all we know was quite content, but the window is a hot place in the summer, and not the ideal environment for such a beast. Ed, came to the rescue and within minutes the creature was outside again and disappearing across the Minster Green heading back towards its natural habitat.

Ed, with Phil Jupitus

Hero To Zero at the bookshop

Director, Matt Camlin and his crew, packed the store last Friday evening, shooting a seqence in the pilot for an exciting new TV series which I guess may be called Hero To Zero. We started around 4.30 and 'wrapped it' (is that the term?) by 9pm - so it was a kind of a long day for us, but great fun - the time just flew by.
The cast includes, Sophie Petzal, Georgina, Ashley Bernard Josh, Angus Fox Roy, and Cian Brennangavin of Only Men Aloud fame, who plays Zero. And that was surreal. 'Who's the guy in the Super Hero suit?' I asked, as Zero took up his position behind a booksigning desk, and one of the crew thought that he was maybe a singer. I don't know, but I think they may have been having me on.

Matt Camlin Director (left) with Chad DOP

Sophie Petzal, Angus Fox, and Ashley Bernard






















Cian Brennan-Gavin





















This was a very different book signing event ...


Between the scenes ... there's a lot of people tucked away in this shot. Can you spot them?

Window dressing

We get a lot of folk popping in to tell us how much they enjoy our constantly changing window displays. And that's really appreciated - specially by me - because, after all the years, I still have fun trying to create something to amuse.  But props are pretty hard to come by. So as you can see from the pics below, I got out some green and white card to make the palm tree and boat ( those are Bethany's friends off for a ride by the way ) and spent a few hours sticking things together with glue and tape.
Take a look at the FAB crab in this weeks window, it was made for us by one of our lovely patrons, specifically for the job!
We've got a lot of really great friends.

Wimborne In Bloom have done us proud again with their baskets and a new half barrel tub. These will be overflowing with blooms right through to the Autumn.

It was Bournemouth Uni's annual graduation Day in Wimborne on the 1st. They use the Mister of course. Edd took a couple of shots on his phone from outside Gullivers. It's great to have the town full of students - and a whole lot of proud mums and dads. The queues went on all day; at times right around the block and the weather was kind.

SUMMER FAYRE and GULLIVERS Teddy Bears Picnic Story Time

We had a great Fayre here in Wimborne last Saturday. It was held on the new town-centre park - just a stones throw from the shop. And OK, so it rained like an April day in the middle of June, but it didn't dampen the occasion one bit.

Here's our GULLIVERS story teller - our friend Barry (he's an actor) - reading from 'Where's My Teddy'. We put out a tannoy and the tent soon filled with an eager little audience. Barry had an amusing time. He's not used to the audience telling him they already know the story

The crowd thinned a bit here so we got a good shot of our stall. We had a chance to meet new potential customers and also have a chat with quite a few friends of our enchanting shop. Being an independent we really rate the great posters from the Indiebound campaign.

Looking down the hill from the Teddy Bears Picnic. This shot gives a flavour of the day - in case you've never been to Wimborne, it's a really nice place

We stock the great PAPERBLANKS range of journals (and diaries of course, but they are a bit more seasonal.)
PAPERBLANKS the journal as functional art.
(They are also works of art). Here's a few on our counter

Bear Grylls latest book, out now in hardback: MUD SWEAT AND TEARS

The extraordinary life story of the world's most intrepid young explorer

 

 

Bear Grylls is a man who has always sought the ultimate in adventure. Growing up on the Isle of Wight, he was taught by his father to sail and climb at an early age. Inevitably, it wasn’t long before Bear was leading out-of-bounds night-climbing missions at school.

As a teenager, he found identity and purpose through both mountaineering and martial arts, which led the young adventurer to the foothills of the mighty Himalaya and a grandmaster’s karate training camp in Japan. On returning home, he embarked upon the notoriously gruelling selection course for the British Special Forces to join 21 SAS – a journey that was to push him to the very limits of physical and mental endurance.

Then, in a horrific free-fall parachuting accident in Africa, Bear broke his back in three places. It was touch and go whether he would ever walk again. However, only eighteen months later and defying doctors’ expectations, Bear became one of the youngest ever climbers to scale Everest, aged only twenty-three. But this was just the beginning of his many extraordinary adventures . . .
Known and admired by millions – whether from his global adventure TV series, as a bestselling author, or as Chief Scout to the Scouting Association – Bear Grylls has survived where few would dare to go. Now, for the first time, Bear tells the story of his action-packed life. Gripping, moving and wildly exhilarating, Mud, Sweat and Tears is a must-read for adrenalin junkies and armchair adventurers alike.

Bill Bryson's AT HOME out now in paperback

AT HOME by BILL BRYSON is now out in paperback - and it's a cracking read.

The irresistible book by Bill Bryson which does for the history of the way we live what A Short History of Nearly Everything did for science.

What does history really consists of? Centuries of people quietly going about their daily business – sleeping, eating, having sex, endeavouring to get comfortable.

And where did all these normal activities take place?

At home.

This was the thought that inspired Bill Bryson to start a journey around the rooms of his own house, an 1851 Norfolk rectory, to consider how the ordinary things in life came to be. And what he discovered are surprising connections to anything from the Crystal Palace to the Eiffel Tower, from scurvy to body-snatching,from bedbugs to the Industrial Revolution, and just about everything else that has ever happened, resulting in one of the most entertaining and illuminating books ever written about the history of the way we live.

Introducing Ecoboo at Gullivers

We are pleased to introduce Ecoboo to our range of craft and learning toys for younger children.

Ecoboo is an exciting new range of childrens toys and other products made from the highest quality bamboo. They are bright, fun, environmentally safe, and are designed to withstand the rigours of play from the most active of children.

Bamboo is a grass, not a wood, it has an extensive root system that continues to replenish itself continually sending up new shoots. It is re-harvestable every 3 to 5 years, making it one of the most renewable resources in the world. It’s harder than maple, lighter than oak and can be as strong as steel.
The Ecoboo range has been developed with the intention of educating children through play, and educating parents about the depletion of the world’s tropical forests.

April 7th 2011

Hi, my name's Jane & I'm co-contributor on this blog, this is my first attempt so please bear with me!  I'll start by telling you that I love working here as one day is never the same as the next.  My main role in the shop is unpacking the stock and I never tire of lifting new books out of the boxes!  Some have titles that you couldn't make up and trying to log them in a specific category can be tricky!

It's also a pleasure to work on the shop floor as we're often presented with problems! The classic questions begin with "now I don't know the author & I don't know the title but it's about......"  these queries are actually fun to deal with and I do love a challenge!  I even managed to solve a fellow bookshops "tweet for help" & was thrilled to be able to assist a fellow independent bookseller;

  gutterbookshop Gutter Bookshop 

@NLIreland @LibertiesPress Thanks for the retweet - think we found it care of @gulliversbks 'So Short a Time'  

 gutterbookshop Gutter Bookshop 

@ 

@gulliversbks It was the right book! Customer thrilled that we found it 

Been stuffing envelopes for our great new promotion. Got to number 40, loads more to go.
Beautiful afternoon here in Wimborne, I - that's me, Malcolm - spent part of the day exploring the bits of the Minster that you don't often get to see (research for my next novel) then took a look in the Crew shop that opened this morning next door to GULLIVERS. Looks good, asked them to pop in and meet us all.
Wimborne's High Street is looking just fine.

 

Don't forget MUMS DAY April 3rd. MUMS LOVE BOOKS!

The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag

Anne Angel, one of our partners, read this recently - couldn't put it down. Anne say's it was an enchantingly quirky murder mystery.

This is Alan Bradley's second book and is recommended.

His first book is The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie. Anne hasn't read it yet, but the customers who bought it have recommended it as a good read.
We listen to our customers.

GULLIVERS BOOKSHOP 47 High Street Wimborne 01202 882677 www.gulliversbookshop.co.uk

GULLIVERS Bookshop is one of Wimborne's treasures. It is independent of the chains, and is run efficiently and with passion by professional booksellers. We pride ourselves in having served the beautiful Market town of Wimborne Minster for the past 42 years. We treat books with respect. We know the agony that goes into each and every title. We don't pile them up like pillars, nor treat them like they're tins of beans. But we do discount when we can and we run a unique customer loyalty card system.

In Gullivers you will find the latest books, back copies and classics, we carry around 80,000 titles, and through our efficient up to the minute technology we search and supply while you wait - that means that any titles we may not have on our shelves can often be with us next week-day - providing they are in print. We try very hard not to disappoint.

We also stock GALT educational and craft products, fine stationery, GIBSONS puzzles and a great range of greeting cards.

We are developing this blog as we go, with the intention of making it useful, fun and informative to the reader.

Thank you for clicking on us.

From all at Gullivers

Sometimes Wimborne gets a few visitors from the past - they attract the cameras but we try to take it all in our stride.

... are you buying that book sir?