New House of Stories bookshop in Morpeth opens its doors

House of Stories at 38 Newgate Street is a place where people can browse, discover new stories, enjoy recommendations and connect with a growing community of book lovers.

It is the next step for James Davies, known as ‘The Book Gadgie’. He has hosted a stall on Sunday at the Tynemouth Market for the last four years and will continue to do so for now.

The family-run business provides a wide range of new and pre-loved books alongside takeaway coffee in a welcoming space designed for readers of all ages and interests.

There are novels and non-fiction covering war history, music and motorsport to name just three of the various topics, plus autobiographies. There are also some antique books, the oldest dating back to 1713.

James said: “I would describe the shop as providing a little bit of everything and we will be changing the topics around fairly regularly.

“I previously worked in customer services for an energy company and after taking my redundancy, my thoughts turned to what to do next.

“As a family, we have a major interest in books so we decided to go down that avenue. It has been interesting being at Tynemouth Market and this has led to taking the next step by opening a bookshop.

“We chose Morpeth as it’s a thriving town with a good number of independent shops. Newgate Street gets a decent amount of footfall and we are close to the bus station.

“We have already met some lovely people who have come to check out the bookshop, including fellow collectors.

“Our focus over the next few weeks and months is integrating ourselves in the community and encourage people to come along and enjoy stimulating conversation with us as well as browsing our books.”

He added that once they are settled in, they will look to put on special events such as author talks and workshops.

House of Stories is open Monday to Saturday, 9.30am to 5.30pm.