Nicest bookshop in the west

Is this the Harbour Bookshop in Dartmouth the nicest bookshop in the west?

My mother and aunt recently celebrated their joint 80th birthday on a visit to this fine town and wanted to revisit this bookshop because it had once been owned by none other than Christopher Robin Milne. They had spent some years of their childhoods living in Ashdown Forest and we were all brought up on Winnie-ther-Pooh so it was encouraging to see the shop was apparently thriving in these hard times.

A birthday shopping spree was inevitable and when my mum enquired if they had the recent biography of the Queen Mum the staff took the time to check the shelves and then opened up the boxes of the latest deliveries to find one. We mentioned our intention to visit Agatha Christie's house and the lady behind the desk (who looked about 21 but assured us she daughters of that age) suggested we left our books behind the counter. "The shop'll be closed at half past five but I'll be here until six," she said. "Just knock on the door round the side and you can pick them up and save having to carry them around Greenway."

She was fascinated to learn that it was their joint birthday and that they were twins so we took her up this kind offer.

The boat got us back to Dartmouth a bit later than we anticipated but as we pulled up at the quay there she was to meet us having arranged with her husband to be late.

"Well," she said, "it's not everyday your both...."

But to reveal their ages seems ungalant to me so I won't. To not reveal this exceptional service would also seem ungalant.

So visit the Harbour Bookshop in Dartmouth and enjoy their services as much as we did.