As John says - the closure of Motorbooks was a sad loss.

The ending of the Net Book Agreement in the mid-nineties meant that retailers could price books as they wished - this meant that smaller retailers just went 'to the wall'. Its very sad.

Again, though, things which were pretty much unthought of in the early 90s have have come to pass. There is a lot of good information available on the www (although a lot of repetitious, inaccurate dross) and, through sites like ebay & Abebooks, it is often easier (and quicker) to buy a s/h book through them that to try and get a copy through a public library (Coming from me that is, of course, sacrilege). Similarly, the availability of 'Books Printed on Demand' has made a lot of old, o/p books available - I bought a number during the various 'lockdowns'.

If anyone is in the Whitby area I can thoroughly recommend the 'Grosmont Bookshop' in Grosmont (adjacent to the NYMR level crossing). He has a wide range of transport & local history books. He does (or did) ask you to leave your bag behind the counter as a 'precaution' (didn't Motorbooks ask you to do the same?). (He also had, on the 'top shelf' a cardboard box of videos marked 'Gentlemen only').

Charity shops (in person) can also have some very good bargains: a lot of near mint books have appeared on their shelves during & post-pandemic.

Grosmont Bookshop

Finally - remember 'Books Do Furnish a Room' ...

T