Our Regular Groups
Something for everyone
Connecting with our customers and friends around books, poetries, stories, is what makes us so much more than ‘just’ a bookshop. Most of our groups have been running for many years and we enjoy building lasting and meaningful relationships with people as we share relaxed coffee and croissants with poetry once a month, or get together each week to closely explore a classic text. We love the cycle of Mums (or grand-parents) turning up each Friday morning with their babes-in-arms, then waving goodbye to them four years later as they bravely head off to school.
No matter what the group, it’s a matter of deeply held principle that newcomers are always made very welcome. We understand that people’s circumstances change: you may have just moved here, or be newly retired, or suffered a bereavement, or just be looking to extend your interests. Whatever your reason, you can be confident that the group will be warmly appreciative of your presence.
Only two of our groups work a little bit differently to that. Our Saturday Morning Book Club for 9 – 12 year olds is run by our teenager, Emily, who prefers to work with a small number of children so there is a waiting list for that group. And our Slow Reading Group spends so long discussing their chosen book that it wouldn’t be fair for someone to come in half away through and forever be playing catch up: so the group opens up to new members each time it starts a new book!
All our groups are really lovely in special and indefinable ways, so why not just come along and try them out? Here’s a note I received just this week from a customer:
Sorry, no StoryTime on Friday May 11th
Slow Reading Group
10.30am – 11.30am
This group opened to new members on April 11th to begin reading Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Please contact the bookshop to apply, the group will only remain open for another week or two. When this book is finished, the group will open again.
The Slow Reading Group meets every week to discuss their current book of choice – please note: it can take a very long time to get through a book this way, so you do need to be patient and willing to go deep into and around the text. We do make sure it’s always an excellent choice!
How it works is that you’ll do the reading at home, from your own copy of the book (available from the bookshop with a 10% discount). We’ll provide a big pot of coffee and a plate of delicious biscuits from the Deli next door. You then gather round each Wednesday morning and discuss the chapter. The group opens up to new members each time a new book is started (approximately once a year or so, depending on the length of the book!) Previous books include Middlemarch, The Power and the Glory and The Plague.
If you think you’d like to try this group, let us know by email please, and we will make sure someone contacts you in good time for joining at the next opening.
£5 to include coffee and biscuits.
Poetry Breakfast
9am – 10am
* Please note – there will be no Storytime on Friday 6th April *
Poetry breakfast is a friendly, informal gathering where we read our favourite (published*) poems on a given theme in the first section, followed by a breakfast of coffee or tea, croissants or toast, followed by another session of reading. You are very welcome to bring poetry to read aloud, or if you prefer, just sit back and relax and we will read to you! The themes are always wide-ranging, and open to interpretation, and you’ll be amazed at the variety of poems we share. By the way, we don’t analyse, we just enjoy!
The cost of this event, to include breakfast is £7 and it is held on the second Thursday of every month at Tea on the Square, Much Wenlock, from 9 – 10 o’clock. The cafe opens at 8.45 for your first cup of coffee and a prompt start!
Our theme for Poetry Breakfast on May 10th is Nature. I’m going to read The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry, from one of my Mum’s best-loved anthologies, ‘In Nature is Life’ by Dalton Exley. Come early to get a seat! Doors open 8.45am
Advance warning: Our special guest on June 14th is Liz Lefroy. Liz is the creator of the Poetry Busk (Wenlock Poetry Festival) and Shrewsbury Poetry (see note below) – she is also a warm and wonderful poet! The theme for the first part of the session is Music and Dance.
All very welcome: it’s a fabulous way to start your day.
*If you are looking for somewhere to share your own poetry writing, try Shrewsbury Poetry at the Old Market Hall, Shrewsbury on every first Thursday evening of the month. They have a Facebook page but ask us if you can’t find them.
Knitting & Poetry
2.30pm – 4pm
* Please note – there will be no Storytime on Friday 6th April *
This is a whole new way to get your regular poetry fix and a chance to get on with the craft of your choice while enjoying the sublime pleasure of being read to. Gather round the table with a pot of tea, some yummy biscuits, and even a cheeky glass of sherry and just relax as Tim Cook and Ali Redgrave read aloud their hand-picked poetry choices.
Half way through the session you’ll be invited to tell us what you’re working on and to show us how it’s going. There’s plenty of skill-sharing round the table, so if you’re stuck on something, chances are someone there will be able to help you out, or at the very least you’ll be warmly commiserated as you unpick that row yet again!
Listening to poetry against a background of gently clicking needles has to be one of the most laid back ways of taking in poetry so do come and give yourselves a treat. We’ll even let you come without your knitting!
We meet on the fourth Thursday of the month from 2.30 – 4pm upstairs in the bookshop £7, no need to book, just come along.
StoryTime
EVERY FRIDAY
11am – 12pm
* Please note – there will be no Storytime on Friday 11th May *
On Friday mornings we give over the upstairs of our shop to the marvellous Sue Dunne and her bag of tricks. Think real snow for stories about snowmen, knitted elephants, steering wheels for pretend cars – the list is endless! Sue has many years of working with children in special needs schools and she brings her love and passion for story, song and children to this hour of fun. We love to watch the children enjoy the magic of story and we revel as they grow in confidence and make new friends. (That goes for the Mums and grand-parents, too!)
We hold our StoryTime session every Friday (join the Facebook StoryTime group for up-to-the-minute information re cancellations for weather, holidays etc) and new families are always made very welcome.
£2.50 per family to include coffee for the grown ups and drinks for the children. There’s no need to book, just turn up!
Saturday Morning
Book Club
11.30am –12.30pm
At our Saturday Morning Book Club for children ages 9 -12, we enjoy reading a wide range of genres from sci-fi to fables, and everything in between! As well as reading at home and talking about the book in Club, we read aloud; we write reviews; play games and do all sorts of fun book-related activities from 11.30 – 12.30 every Saturday morning. Currently, we have space for 1 or 2 more members so please get in touch to get involved!
Contact our fabulous young leader for any information about joining: emilymansfield@btinternet.com
Find Us
Address
12 High Street
Much Wenlock
Shropshire TF13 6AA
Opening Hours
Open 10am – 5pm, Monday – Saturday
Telephone
01952 727877