The Castlemaine Bookshop Trail: Part 1

Over the weekend, we headed out to Castlemaine, a former gold-mining town north-west of Melbourne. There are plenty of bookshops in the goldfields region, but we only had time to explore Castlemaine on this visit. Castlemaine has its own bookshop trail, with a helpful map to help you find the bookshops.

Since the map was printed, Books Plus has closed (though it may now have a stall at the nearby Castlemaine Vintage Bazaar, which we didn't visit). Stoneman's Bookroom no longer has a second-hand section, the owner explaining that with so many second-hand bookshops close by, it was better to focus on selling contemporary books. It's a beautiful, well-stocked bookshop with an extensive children's section, so it's certainly worth checking out if you're looking for new or recent releases.

Our first stop on the bookshop trail was Mount of Alex, opened seven years ago by owner Andrew Long. This elegant and atmospheric bookshop contains a wide range of books in excellent condition. There are vintage children's paperbacks on the bookshelves to the right as you enter the shop (I found a copy of A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley, which I'd been looking for forever), with hardbacks to the left (including, when I visited, a lovely copy of Louise Mack's Teens). Crime hardbacks, ranging from Golden Age to more recent, are in one of the alcoves further into the shop. The owner is extremely knowledgeable, and says his aim with the shop is to create an antiquarian feel. He's definitely succeeded in that. This is a bookshop we'll certainly return to.

From there, we walked up to Soldier & Scholar, but discovered it didn't open until 2pm. So it was back in the car and a quick drive to nearby Campbells Creek to visit Book Heaven.

To be continued...