To spot Bowes & Bowes, look for a handsome, tall corner building with light brown bricks, rows of big white-trimmed windows, and arched shopfront windows on the ground floor displaying books-right where St Mary's Street meets Trinity Street.
Now, let’s wander back in time, right here on this famous corner! You’re not just looking at any old bookshop-Bowes & Bowes is practically a legend in the world of books. Imagine the smell of old paper and the creak of wooden floors as students, professors, and curious townsfolk walked through its doors over centuries. Books have been sold right here since 1581-longer than most shoes have lasted in Cambridge’s rainy weather! Back then, you might have found candlelit shelves and whispers of secret societies between the stacks.
The adventure began with Robert Bowes, a determined book lover, who kept the family tradition alive and grew this shop into a hub of knowledge with his son, George Brimley Bowes. Business boomed-stories spread through the city faster than a fire in the library (don’t worry, no books were harmed)-until eventually, W H Smith came along and said, “We want in on this action!” But even after being bought out in 1953, the shop kept its name and its magic until 1986, when it became Sherratt & Hughes, another bookish name in the saga.
Mystery and excitement buzzed in the air, with famous writers like Erich Heller on the shelves, and rumors that somewhere on these well-trodden floors, a scholar dropped his sandwich and started the first lunch-and-learn!
And even after Sherratt & Hughes closed in 1992, the spirit of learning lingered. These windows became the home for the Cambridge University Press bookshop, picking up the story where Bowes & Bowes left off. So take a deep breath-maybe, just maybe, you can still catch a whiff of ink and genius in the air. All right, onward to our next stop!
