The bookshop that floated away
By: Henshaw, Sarah
Material type: BookPublisher: London : Constable, c2014.Description: xii, 260 p. ; 20 cm.ISBN: 9781472108050Subject(s): Book Barge (Firm) | Narrowboats -- Great Britain | Canals -- Great Britain | TransportationDDC classification: 386.22436 HE BO Online resources: Location MapItem type | Home library | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
REGULAR | University of Wollongong in Dubai Main Collection | 386.22436 HE BO (Browse shelf) | Available | T0050962 |
, Shelving location: Main Collection Close shelf browser
384.84 CA SU Success the LOVEFilm way : | 385.09 WO SH A short history of trains | 385.3 AD VA Advances in communications-based train control systems | 386.22436 HE BO The bookshop that floated away | 387 AL RE Reeds sea transport operation and economics / | 387.1095357 RA DU Dubai amplified : | 387.5 BR EL Elements of shipping / |
Follow the ebbs and flows of Sarah Henshaw's journey as she sought to make her vision of a floating bookshop, The Book Barge, a reality. Business wasn't always easy, so one May morning she set off for six months chugging the length and breadth of the country. Books were bartered for food, accommodation, bathroom facilities and cake. During the journey, the barge suffered a flooded engine, went out to sea, got banned from Bristol and, on several occasions, floated away altogether.
In early 2009 a strange sort of business plan landed on the desk of a pinstriped bank manager. It had pictures of rats and moles in rowing boats and archaic quotes about Cleopatra's barge. It asked for a £30,000 loan to buy a black-and-cream narrowboat and a small hoard of books. The manager said no. Nevertheless The Book Barge opened six months later and enjoyed the happy patronage of local readers, a growing number of eccentrics and the odd moorhen. Business wasn't always easy, so one May morning owner Sarah Henshaw set off for six months chugging the length and breadth of the country. Books were bartered for food, accommodation, bathroom facilities and cake. During the journey, the barge suffered a flooded engine, went out to sea, got banned from Bristol and, on several occasions, floated away altogether. This account follows the ebbs and flows of Sarah's journey as she sought to make her vision of a floating bookshop a reality.