The tiny and picturesque market town of Hay on Wye, which sits on the border of England and Wales boasts an astonishing 40 second-hand bookshops and has become the undisputed second hand book capital of the world. Hay was also responsible for the establishment of several other “book towns” throughout Europe and the United States. A trip to Hay, if you are visiting the United Kingdom and you are a bibliophile is the literary equivalent of a pilgrimage.
Old books seem to be all over the town – they gather dust in the back rooms of the bookshops; they fill up the old cinema and fire station and one of the pubs. Some of the residents have jumped on the bookselling bandwagon too. You can literally step into peoples front rooms and browse for books piled up on the floor or on bookcases next to their TV or sofa.
Every month or so, several containers of books are shipped into the town, many from bookshops that have gone out of business in the United States, or from estates of the deceased. People in the book trade claim that there are supposedly so many books in Hay that nobody really knows accurately how many, or what their combined value might be. You can find anything in Hay if you have a deep enough wallet; from a cheap dog-eared paperback on the remainder table – to an almost priceless engraved book with leather binding.
The King of Hay...
One man – Richard Booth – is largely responsible for making Hay the success it is today; and turning a rather sleepy and run-down market town into a booklovers’ dream. Booth had just graduated from university in Oxford in 1961 when he decided to buy the town’s old fire station and turn it into a bookstore. “The Limited” as this shop is known, still has a plaque outside claiming it to be the world’s largest bookshop, and from the outside it still looks like a country fire station. Somewhat surprised by the success of his venture, gradually Booth bought up other cheap properties, and began to turn them into bookstores. Tentatively, other booksellers moved into the town, attracted by the low rents and overheads. Several specialist booksellers made the move from London, gambling on making a success of their business in rural Wales. Undoubtedly the book business has been a boon to both the town’s economy and that of the surrounding region
Today, Booth still lives in the half-ruined 13th century castle that dominates the town and owns several of the larger bookshops – the self styled “Emperor of the World’s Book Towns” and “King of Hay”. Booth has been responsible for several publicity stunts over the years that have helped to increase Hay’s popularity. One of his most famous moments came when he declared home rule and independence for Hay – a move that not only attracted controversy - but more visitors to the town. In earlier times Hay had its share of eccentric inhabitants too – a woman living in the town said to be a witch reportedly walled her son up alive to starve to death, as he had displeased the king at the time.