A Tardis for tomes

And none of it was planned...

David and Susan Fielden had worked in publishing all their lives - even met in a publisher's office - but were involved in educational publishing. They lived in Lancashire, and discovered Teesdale when they couldn't get a caravan berth in Castle Bolton and just carried on.

"That was in the early 1990s. We'd never been here before but thought it was wonderful and we were regular visitors from then on," says David.

So when they retired, they chose Teesdale.

They'd done a bit of book selling before - they had a stall in Lancaster antiques centre and they had so many books they couldn't squash them into their retirement home and needed more storage space. The little shop, just a few doors down from their house, was being used as a charity shop but was coming vacant. "Susan heard about it through the WI mafia," says David.

So they took it over, simply to have somewhere to store their huge numbers of books. "But people kept peering in through the windows, thinking it was a shop. And after a while, we thought, why not?"

Unfortunately, they thought that at the beginning of 2000 - just weeks before foot-and-mouth brought the area to an almost standstill.

"A dreadful time for everyone," says Susan.

But they persevered. As well as second hand books, they started selling new books.

"We try and keep the most popular books in stock, but we can get just about any book for anyone - usually in 24 hours," says Susan.

And they often have cut price offers. And you don't have to pay the postage as you do with Amazon. And they sell greetings cards and the Naxos range of budget price classical music CDs.

They also sell books over the Internet - more specialist literature and science books - with customers as far flung as Peru, Shanghai and Serbia Montenegro. But it's the shop customers they really like. "There are so many really nice people," says Susan. "Local people support us well and we have regular customers who come in and have a chat while they're choosing something. We get to know what they like."

Dogs and children are welcome too - especially the children - if you can fit them in. There are helpful signs, stools for creaky knees and when David and Susan are there, a general air of friendly helpfulness.

Winter opening hours are fairly short, but in summer they open at 9am and have people waiting at the door. "A lot of tourists come in, which is good," says David.

A recent customer was former England goalie David Seaman, who at 6ft 6ins must have nearly filled the shop.

There are plenty of maps, walking guides and local history books for visitors wanting to make the most of their stay. But the shop also has its own specialities, mainly to do with country life, but which seem to involve an awful lot about keeping chickens. "Anything to do with fishing, horses or dogs always sells well too," says David.

The most popular new books are children's books. "We have lots of lovely children who come in here", says Susan.

There are other unexpected favourites too. While most of us cheerfully ditched all our school science text books as soon as we could - if not before - there are people who actually collect them.

But the most popular book of all is the one of which customers dare not say the name. It's an eminently sensible and practical book for people who spend their time in the great outdoors.

"A few men will ask for it by name, but usually people pretend they can't remember the title," says Susan.

Strange that, because it's pretty memorable: How to Shit in the Woods by Kathleen Meyer.

If you haven't got it, The Village Bookshop will get you a copy.

l The Village Bookshop, Market Place, Middleton-in-Teesdale (01833) 641133. www.villagebookshop.co.uk

New and second hand books, maps, guides, walking and wildlife books.

Winter opening: Monday - Saturday 11am - 5pm. Closed Weds afternoon. Closed for lunch. Open all day Saturday.

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