Holman’s Bookshop, Whitby: Yorkshire’s oldest independent bookshop that is often compared to the TARDIS as it looks ‘bigger on the inside than outside’

Holman’s Bookshop has carved itself a reputation in Whitby - originally as a newsagents - since 1920 and has often been compared to the TARDIS.

Throughout its history it has been a traditional newsagent and tobacconist, a subscription library, a theatre ticket office where you could also re-string tennis racquets and a bookshop.

It is considered Yorkshire’s oldest independent bookshop and is located at 19-21 Skinner Street, Whitby.

Ernest was a grocer and Ada was a school teacher and it exclusively became a bookshop since the 1970s.

Angela O’Connor, 57, and her husband Michael, 58, bought the business in August 2014.

The bookshop has often been compared with the TARDIS on the sci-fi TV series Doctor Who.

“We had a library in the shop until 1960 because there wasn't a public library in the town until 1944, so commercial subscription libraries were the way forward in those days,” Angela said.

“Although we've had the library for 40 years or so, it wasn't really until the 1970s that we became a proper book shop.

“But with the advent of the internet, I'm afraid the bookshelves of the business have gone down again and so we've had to diversify into toys and jigsaws and gifts.

“We're very oldie-worldie still and people say that it's like a TARDIS because it looks bigger on the inside than what it looks like from the outside.”

Over the last 106 years, the business has endured many challenges, particularly during the Second World War and the Covid-19 pandemic, Angela said.

“During the Second World War, three cottages nearby were bombed and fortunately the shop survived,” she said.

“Our biggest challenge in recent years has been the pandemic because we've had a reduction in footfall since then.

“People don't seem to wander in and out of shops like they did in the past and the internet has reduced our book business.

“I think we're lucky that we are on the coast and we still have visitors.

“If I were in a normal town centre, I think the shop would be far more impacted due to the fact that people are coming here on holiday and supporting the shop.”

During research for her book ‘Holman's, Whitby's Time Travelling Bookshop’ that was re-published in November last year for its 105th anniversary, Angela delved into the building’s history.

“It was built in 1768, which is the same year that Captain Cook set sail for Australia and New Zealand because I couldn’t find it on any map prior to 1768,” she said.

“For the first 30 or 40 years it was likely to be a coaching house because there's evidence that we were a coaching yard.

“There were a lot of coaching houses at the time because horses needed to be rested every seven miles so it is highly likely that we were a coaching house at that time.

“I went to the Whitby Museum and they've digitised the Whitby Gazette over the inspection since 1854 so I began searching their Whitby Gazette records to see if we could find any advertisements or articles concerning Holman’s. That formed the basis of the book.”

Angela, from Doncaster, didn’t read many books before they bought the business which has significantly expanded its genres since they took over.

“There are probably around 10 sections of books; we’ve got a local fiction section, two local interest sections, children, transport, scary stories, crime, passion, maps, so that's quite a lot,” she said.

“Throughout the time it has been Dracula; it has never been out of print, so we’ve got Dracula jigsaws.

“There’s a Leeds guy called Paul Magrs, he had done a series like ‘Doctor Who: Dracula!’.

“Before I came to Holman’s, I wasn't very much of a reader, Michael is the reader in the family.

“He's a big Lee Child fan and we had the Whitby Lit Fest last November as well. Michael was excited to listen to Lee Child and get his latest book signed because he's got all of his books.”