The Aardvark Blog

I'm Back ... Not From Outer Space
22/05/2026

We Will Survive!

I realise with shame that this is the first Mr Aardvark Blog since the middle of February. It is not because I have had nothing to say during that period, but rather that there was sooo much to say that I struggled to be able to pick one or two subjects and stick to them. Therefore there have been a few unposted blogs which will I guess form a part of the evergrowing Aardvark Basement tapes.

NOW, just to give the cliff notes version of what has been happening, as you may be aware Ethel and I did our last Aardvark Event on the 4th April, which was an absolutely brilliant day - perfect weather, tons of visitors, so many nice comments, no absolute café snaffoos (that I heard about, anyway). Special thanks to the brilliant Lucys (C and M) who worked so hard to make it so special; to Andy B who came in early to work on his birthday (and you will always have a special place in our hearts Andy for the brilliant way you have dealt with so many difficult Aardvark tasks over the years).

Now this brings me on to the R word, that people have mentioned to us a lot in the last month. Just to make it clear, Ethel and I are not actually retiring, we are just stopping working the six days a week and many evenings that running our version of a bookshop used to take. We are both aiming to carry on working and exploring new activities, so the bottom line is, I am afraid, that you are stuck with us for some time to come. 

To show that this is very much the case after with the exception of taking the whole of Easter Sunday off , we have worked at least part of all but four days since then. In particular the few weeks after we closed Aardvark were a whirlwind in which we cleared shelves, moved shelving units, listed books for our new venture etc. Meanwhile the brilliant Ben, Brennan, and Leo were building our new bookshop in our outbuildings at home, and Ben was creating a dry box within the open barn which we have now nicknamed Ben World.

Between both spaces we should eventually have enough room for roughly a quarter of our previous number of titles, but with a definite emphasis on art (and related subjects), rare books and academic titles. There is much more work to do to get there, but we are probably two thirds of the way to being fully up and running. We have made our first online sales, have sorted out the internet, and slayed a bunch of other dragons. For now we are internet only, but we are giving some thought to how we can do some in-person selling in the future.

Meanwhile back in Brampton Bryan, amazing things have been happening, with Rachel B (who had worked with us previously for some years), and her business partner Polly,  re-fashioning the bookshop and café in incredible ways under its new name, Elderwood Books. They are in the process of creating a much more curated space, with more room for books to breathe and for customers to view them properly.

Given the small amount of time they have had (they only had a week to reorganise the shop from 22nd April, and have now been open almost a month), I think that they have made real strides forward. I look forward to being a customer moving forward, and to seeing the changing selection of fantastic new titles that they are also now stocking (including the new bestselling book from old-Leominsterite Jackie Morris, with Robert McFarlane). For more details, find them on Facebook, Insta (as we kids call it), or on their website. Most importantly, they have their first Flea Market this Bank Holiday Monday from 10am-3pm, and lots of stalls are already booked for a fantastic event.

Although still working quite hard, we have been able to do a number of things that would hitherto not have been possible (selling books online does give one a lot more flexibility) including going to the brilliant Kington Makers event two weekends ago, the Kington Twinning open event with the incredibly friendly French people from Marines, a small town north of Paris, the opening of the Sidney Nolan Trust/The Rodd's Spring exhibitions (open until June), and the brilliant Open Garden at The Hurst, Clunton - the former home of writer John Osborne and the home of very popular writing courses.

Speaking of Open Gardens, something to mark in your diary is that all three Rodd Gardens (including that now belonging to the Aardvarks) are opening in June next year as part of the 100-year anniversary celebrations of the National Open Gardens Scheme. There will be tons more about this on the blog and in the newsletter, and I look forward to giving more details when they are available.

So there it is, our first blog of the new settlement. I hope that you will continue to look out for everything that we are doing as, trust me, you have not heard the last of Ethel and Arthur!