The family home that became a famous bookshop

An independent bookshop, which has been described as one of the best of its kind in the world, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. But how did this shop - tucked away in a small Peak District village - became known far and wide, and how has it survived in the age of online retailers?

Scarthin Books, in Cromford, Derbyshire, is spread over four floors of what was once a family home.

Almost every wall and surface of the shop is covered in new and second-hand books - even around the staircase that runs through the centre of the building - which twists slightly due to the toll of the heavy stock.

There are so many books - an estimated 100,000 - that the centuries-old building was in danger of collapsing nine years ago.

Fortunately, the bookshop's many loyal customers raised money for structural repairs in a matter of days.

There were humble beginnings at the bookshop.

"Nobody gave us a chance when we opened," said founder and proprietor Dave Mitchell.

"They said, 'how can you possibly have a successful bookshop hidden up that decrepit side street in Cromford in the middle of nowhere?'"

The bookshop was originally just on the ground floor, but the rooms were gradually taken over by books as the business grew.

"If it was still just a ground-floor shop, we couldn't possibly survive against competition, but we've always been able to expand and keep ahead," he said.

Mr Mitchell, who is now 79, fell in love with second-hand books while studying physics, maths and engineering at Cambridge, and buying them cheaply from the city's long-established G. David bookshop.

He came to live in Derbyshire in January 1972, after getting a job working for Derbyshire County Council's town and country planning department.

He bought what was then called Scarthin House later that year, for about £3,800.

It struck him as an "amazing place" when he viewed it, and he was partly also attracted by its location overlooking Cromford Mill Pond, which was then silted up.

He originally lived there with three lodgers, and said they had a "wild time" hosting "wild parties and things".

"Someone parked his motorbike in what is now the shop, and there was a piano down there," said Mr Mitchell.

However, he decided to set up a bookshop on the ground floor after marrying his first wife, Pat.

"I thought while I'm working Pat could run a bookshop, just as a hobby," he said.

The shop opened on 30 August 1974 and sold a mix of second-hand and new books from the start.

"That's been one of the keys to our success, that we've always done both new books and second-hand books," he said.

After two years he felt confident enough to give up his council job, having by then transferred to Derbyshire Dales District Council.

"I wasn't happy at work and a bookshop was my salvation," he said.

"I was able to give up my failing career and go with the bookshop."

The number of books increased and gradually enveloped the house, so Mr Mitchell bought a cottage at the back of the shop, which he still lives in.

The bookshop's well-known vegan and vegetarian cafe opened 30 years ago, at the same time he and his third wife moved into the cottage.

The room had previously been their kitchen, so he said it made sense to turn it into a cafe.

"It's very hard to make any money out of the cafe," he said.

"It just about breaks even but it adds so much to the atmosphere and pleasure of visiting us."

What was once a "decrepit side street" is now an attractive location, as the mill pond in front of the shop has been restored.

Cromford is also now in the middle of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, which was designated in 2001.

Mr Mitchell said the shop had been "blessed" by tourists who came to the area.

"We are part of people's visits to the Peak District," he said.

"People fit us into their holidays. If they're passing and they know about us, they make a special effort to come."

The bookshop and other parts of the village were used in the 2007 film, And When Did You Last See Your Father?, starring Colin Firth and Jim Broadbent.

Adding to its fame, Scarthin Books was placed at six in a list by The Guardian of the world's best bookshops, and at 14 in travel agency Skyscanner's most beautiful bookshops in the world.

"We're known internationally now," said Mr Mitchell.

"An ex-employee was in a bookshop in Paris and on a table he saw a book called Les Plus Belles Librairies Du Monde, the Most Beautiful Bookshops in the World, and sure enough we're in there.

"Some people came from China bearing a book in Chinese and there we were, in there, and a few months ago a young man who wanted to open a bookshop in Michigan had researched British bookshops and decided to visit."

The bookshop is now run day-to-day by manager David Booker, who said the last few years had been "phenomenal".

"We get regular returning visitors from Australia, New Zealand, all over Europe," he said.

He says the shop gets "plenty" of famous visitors too.

"[Musician] Jarvis Cocker was a real treat for customers when he came in not long ago," he said.

"The one I was gutted to have missed was one of my heroes when I was a kid, the artist David Hockney. I was so gutted, he came on my day off one Saturday and had tea and cake in the cafe."

Mr Booker met his wife Eve while working at the bookshop, and they now have a seven-year-old son.

"I love being here, it's wonderful, and I work really hard and the days fly by because there's so much to do," said Mrs Booker, who is the assistant manager.

"You just can't find places like this any more. So many bookshops are shutting down all the time and we're so lucky that we're so busy and so loved by our customers."

She said one of their customers, Stuart Beardsall, even became a really close friend.

"Stuart had been coming to the shop since it opened, and we lost Stuart this year unfortunately," she said.

"I think we became his family because Stuart didn't have a wife or children. Part of his routine would be to come to the bookshop, to chat to us, to have a look round.

"There are just some wonderful people and we're really lucky to have the customers that we do."

Now Mr Mitchell has stepped back from the day-to-day running of the bookshop, he describes it as his "wayward child or grandchild".

"It's got my genes, most of the shelving and the design and the layout and all the different rooms, that's all down to me, but what's actually happening there, the books that are purchased and the way it's all laid out and displayed, that's all down to David and Eve and Bev, and all the members of staff who are doing their own thing," he said.

Looking back at the bookshop's history, Mr Mitchell described it as "a series of crazy mistakes".

"I shouldn't have bought the place in the first place, I should have bought a quick and easily-sold semi so I could move on, and I certainly shouldn't have allowed what was a lovely family home to become a business," he said.

"It was a very stupid thing to do, but these mistakes have somehow proved fruitful."

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