Focus on Littleborough: George Kelsall's secondhand bookshop

Photo: Laura Wild

Mr Kelsall in his bookshop

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George Kelsall’s secondhand bookshop situated on Littleborough Square is well known to people from far and wide and has been in the same location for the past thirty years.

Rochdale Online reporter Laura Wild met with Mr Kelsall in one of Littleborough’s most loved shops – a shop full of history a place one could spend hours searching through the array of books on offer.

Mr Kelsall, 70, originally from Heywood, moved to Littleborough 40 years ago, he is married to Lynne, a former school teacher and has one son, Ben, who now runs and manages the shop.

Mr Kelsall was originally an architect and he started collecting and selling books in his spare time, eventually his love for books grew and although he didn’t fall out of love with architecture he chose books instead.

“Fortunately the old Barclays Bank building on Littleborough square became empty so I moved in here in December 1979 and I have enjoyed it ever since,” said Mr Kelsall.

30 years later Mr Kelsall is semi-retired, but said he is still very happy to be involved with the shop.

He said: “We sell a very wide range of fiction and non fiction books to appeal to all tastes; our strong points I would say are local history, transport, art, natural history and literature.”

“There have been many interesting moments over the years; one of those was when ITV were filming here for a programme about Tim Bobbin.

“One of the main pleasures for me has been meeting new people, I meet people at the shop and from all over the country – I have made many new friends,” said the book lover.

Mr Kelsall’s favourite book is ‘The History of the Lancashire Dialect’ written by Tim Bobbin over 250 years ago (John Collier from Milnrow). He also has a private collection of books about the First World War.

90 per cent of the books at the shop are secondhand; the shop also has a selection of new books and is also able to order new books on request that will be delivered within a matter of days.

Aside from selling the books, Mr Kelsall and his son Ben also offer a valuation service for books and larger collections and they have published numerous books in association with local authors.

Mr Kelsall has a wide customer base, he said: “People come from a very wide area; we have regulars from all parts of Lancashire, Yorkshire and the Midlands. We also have foreign visitors who make regular visits when they are here for business or pleasure.

“We must be doing something right!” Mr Kelsall joked.

Mr Kelsall said it is impossible to predict what the future will hold for the bookshop but said he is confident they can face any challenges which they may meet in the years to come.

When asked if he had made the right choice choosing books over architecture Mr Kelsall simply smiled and said: “I have no regrets.”