The Bolton Bicycling Bookshop

Paul Salveson, Loominary Books Bolton, wrote to the FT’s editor about the problems facing small independent bookshops.

The lack of local independent bookshops is making it more difficult for small independent publishers to ‘get books out there’ — but he has found creative solutions: selling his books in local cafés and post offices, takeaways, barbers’ shops and greengrocers.

When some had to close during the lockdown, he launched The Bolton Bicycling Bookshop which offers free delivery to customers within cycling distance of his Bolton home as: “Using the bike is fun and doesn’t pollute”.

Paul (right), who runs The Lancashire Loominary, a small publishing business, said: “The internet helps but it can be very impersonal. I like building links with my readers and being able to deliver a signed copy of a book to a customer’s doorstep is a real pleasure.”

The website also hosts interesting articles he has written – see Another England is possible.

The Bolton News reports that he has just published a new book celebrating the West Pennine Moors – Moorlands, Memories and Reflections. It marks the centenary of Allen Clarke’s book Moorlands and Memories which was about cycle rides and rambles around the West Pennines.

Paul has ‘a definite green agenda’, doing all he can to use local suppliers and his latest book is published by Bolton-based Minerva Press. He adds that so many books are produced abroad which doesn’t help the environment or our local economies.