The Sue Ryder shop in Priory Road, Spalding, is this month celebrating its 50th birthday trading on the same premises.
It opened its doors to the public on March 3, 1975, at 1a Priory Road, selling the traditional assortment of clothes and bric-a-brac to raise funds for what was then called the Sue Ryder Foundation, which had been established by Lady Ryder, Baroness of Warsaw, in 1953.
The store was managed initially by retired nurse, Miss Massey, in a tiny unit at this address, but a few years later the adjacent property was acquired in the direction of Abbey Buildings, which effectively doubled its size.
The clothing store remained as a generic charity shop for many years, but with its relocation and expansion in November 2004 to its current site in Francis Street, the small double-unit in Priory Road was retained and transformed into Sue Ryder’s first and only charity bookshop under manager, John Haresign.
When John moved on to pastures new in 2005, I was offered the chance to take the helm, which I was honoured to accept.
When the adjacent corner property of 21 The Crescent became vacant in 2008, Sue Ryder seized the opportunity to expand the bookshop so it could double its floor space once again, and as such it has remained a haven for bibliophiles for the last 20 years.
In order to celebrate this auspicious milestone marking half a century of raising vital funds for Sue Ryder, the bookshop is running a 50 per cent discount on selected items from our extraordinary collection of rare and collectible books covering a wide range of topics, signed copies, first editions and much more.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers who have passed through our doors and freely given up their invaluable time, from students to retired professionals, young and old, part-time to virtually full-time in many cases, without whom we could not have lasted.
We must also mention the unfailing support of the staff at Bookmark, past and present, who, despite the arrival of what might have seemed a rival bookshop on their doorstep back in 2004, have never given us anything but the most generous support, assistance and encouragement, as we have developed what is in reality a symbiotic relationship between two businesses which seek to encourage book-lovers of all categories through the doors, whether they are looking for new titles in Bookmark, or out-of-print classics in our store.
And as I often say to customers, please don’t stop buying from Bookmark, otherwise there will be no second-hand books for our shop to sell in the future!
We also wish to thank the other local businesses, who have given us tremendous support over the years.
We could not function without the assistance of our sister shop in Francis Street and their amazing staff, nor the expert guidance, knowledge and generosity of Alan Barnsdale and his Uptown Records, and what on earth would we have done without all the free cardboard boxes so generously donated to us by not only Bookmark, but also Heron in the Sheep Market.
And we cannot of course neglect to say a huge thank you to all the donors and customers, past and present, who have so generously donated their own precious books and equally generously purchased someone else’s – without all of you we simply could not exist.
So, to everyone – thank you all and here’s to the next 50 years.
Paul Redford
bookshop manager
