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Alastair Kenward tells us about the colourful career path that led him to open his buzzing bookshop Rye Books on Upland Road

By Katie Allen; Photos by Lima Charlie

A charming photobook of cheerful women perching on branches would make an unlikely Amazon bestseller – which might be why Women in Trees, edited by German photography collector Jochen Raiss, has been one of Rye Books’ recent, heartwarming hits.

“It is a great thing to be able to introduce people to books they might not think of. You’re not getting fed an algorithm, it’s a random choice,” says owner Alastair Kenward, who cites Alistair Gibbs’ photos of esoteric Peckham signage as another popular buy.

Bitten by Witch Fever, about the Victorians’ toxic love of arsenic-dyed wallpaper – as well as the spoof Ladybird books which you probably received in your Christmas stocking – have also been sought-after by customers.

“Rye Books doesn’t have a top 50,” says Alastair. “We’re probably very different to the rest of the country. We stock a little bit of everything. It’s the more unique books that we tend to gravitate towards. We try to be very diverse.”

Based on Upland Road and perfectly placed for wanderers from Peckham Rye Park to East Dulwich – as well as bibliophiles venturing up from North Cross Road market – Rye Books recently celebrated its fifth birthday as one of the area’s best-loved bookshops. They marked the occasion with a party that included mulled cider and performances from local folkies The Relatives and the Nunhead Folk Circle.

Alastair opened the shop in 2011 just in time for Christmas. He and his wife Hatty had moved to Nunhead in 2009 and immediately began looking for a good site for the shop. He remembers: “Of all the empty shops, this one had the most soul. Even the mice had soul.”

The site was formerly a run-down old junk shop, where previous star stock included a rather covetable-sounding mint-green 1960s Pakistani washing machine. But it was situated on a street that had once been lively with shops including a haberdashery, a toy shop and a baker.

“We were like, ‘Let’s save this one,’” Alastair says. He admits that the route between Nunhead and East Dulwich was “a risk in terms of footfall, but we thought, ‘Let’s take that risk,’ and luckily it worked out.”

Alastair has worked in bookselling for 12 years, which has included stints as a partner at Clapham Books and Herne Hill Books. But running a bookshop is the culmination of a colourful career path that has seen him work – in no particular order – as a teacher, in a pub, in a tropical fish warehouse and briefly at Sainsbury’s.

He also worked for the RSPCA, where he remembers helping a cormorant escape from the toilets of a primary school and rescuing a family from a monitor lizard which had grown too big and was dominating their bedroom. “They were opening the door and throwing food in – they were terrified of it!”

He also spent three years as a gravedigger at Morden Cemetery. “All those jobs – they help to push you towards a passion,” he says. “You tend to gravitate towards what thrills you.”

Alastair’s love of books comes across strongly the moment you step through the door of Rye Books, which is cosy yet packed with shelves and tables displaying the sort of intriguingly chosen titles that ask to be picked up for a gander.

The tempting selection of stock almost guarantees that anyone dashing in for a birthday card or a gift will probably leave with something for themselves too.

Their most recent catalogue handpicked a variety of titles, including Artemis Cooper’s biography of Elizabeth Jane Howard, Carol Ann Duffy and Gillian Clarke’s poetry collection The Map and the Clock and the rather less highbrow Pornburger, for lovers of the ultimate fast food.

A recent unusual favourite has been London in Fragments: A Mudlark’s Treasures by Ted Sandling. London and locally themed titles always do well, Alastair reveals, but this book particularly excited him because of its sideways look at the city.

Sandling recently came in to host a popular event at the shop, revealing secrets about the items he had found while digging around in the mud of the Thames. They included an original RAF button, which contained a compass in case a marooned pilot needed to find his way back home.

Why did Alastair want to open a bookshop? “We wanted to raise books up, to make them something special again,” he says. “The internet has devalued many things, like vinyl, journalism and books. It has changed them for everyone, it devalues things for everyone.

“The internet can be a hollow experience: you order something online and you get it. There is a general trend towards wanting experience – a chance to meet authors, a nice place to buy a book. We want to inspire thinking and creativity and books are a perfect way to do that.”

The shop is known for working with community groups and schools as well as running a packed series of events. In the past year they’ve had Bridget Hargreave discussing her book about postnatal depression Fine (Not Fine) with Dr Helena Belgrave.

They’ve also welcomed Hester Vaizey, author of Born in the GDR, and Jon Magidsohn discussing his memoir Immortal Highway, about going on the road with his baby son after the death of his wife.

There’s also a programme of one-off events and regular classes for children, such as author readings, story time and baby bop. Local parents will know the diverse spread of children’s books too, from classics to contemporary favourites like Jon Klassen to more unusual picture and pop-up books. “There’s so much out there that lies undiscovered and that should be celebrated. We want to showcase books that don’t normally get seen,” says Alastair.

He cites bookshop favourite Coralie Bickford-Smith, whose award-winning illustrated book The Fox and the Star took over the bookshop window as a beautiful paper forest.

Of course few modern bookshops exist without selling an array of other products. Rye Books stocks wrapping paper and cards, some illustrated by local talent, book-related knick-knacks and tea, coffee from local social enterprise Old Spike Roastery, and cakes.

“Another passion of mine is eating,” admits Alastair, who for the past two years has also been selling colourful little Prakti stoves from the shop. Designed to help women in the developing world – because they funnel smoke out of a dwelling – and to run economically, they are ideal for campers and those who like to feast outdoors. “I love being outside and cooking – it’s a marriage of that.”

Speaking of keeping cosy, one of Alastair’s plans for 2017 is to install a wood burner in the shop. His second plan will please dog lovers, especially those who were fond of Kenward family dog Bert, who has sadly passed away.

The family recently acquired George, a six-week-old Lab-cross puppy. “If he’s anything like Bert, he’ll enjoy chewing all the stock,” Alastair laughs. “I’ve missed having a bookshop dog.”

He’s planning to continue hosting events for his customers, although nothing is in the diary as yet. “At the beginning of the year I have no idea what we are going to have,” he says. “The thrill of it is that people organically come along. It always amazes me – we get to the end of the year and somehow we’ve done it.”

He is positive about the future of the bookselling industry, which has been rocked by the closures of bookshops large and small due to the threat of Amazon and online shopping as well as rising rents and the lure of e-books.

“More bookshops have opened than in previous years, that’s an encouraging sign,” he says. “People have seen a balance in favour of printed books and sales are coming back. People don’t want to look at screens all the time, and books are a comfort.”

He points to the popularity of titles such as Elena Ferrante’s blockbuster Neapolitan series, which is essentially about the friendship between two women over the years. “There is a trend towards escapist books because of the horrible place we’re in [politically].

“A book is a place for people to lose themselves – they will serve an even greater role in helping people get though the times we are living in. That’s what I have always loved about books – they can transport you and enrich your life.

“There’s nothing wrong with books that give you a hug – you don’t always have to read literary books. Whatever you are feeling, there will be a book to fit it. In the shop, we’ve listened as hard as we can to the people coming in here. They have shaped how it looks and what we sell.”

He discusses Rye Books’ mixed clientele, which includes parents and children in particular during the week and “everyone else” at the weekend. Then there are the customers who buy from the bookshop’s striped van, which turns up everywhere from North Cross Road market on Saturdays to book fairs across London.

With almost stage-managed timing, while we are chatting a woman passing knocks on the door and pokes her head in to thank Alastair for a recent event she enjoyed. Other passersby wave and smile.

“The best thing about running the shop is the friends we have made,” Alastair says. “The community, the sense of trust. I’m pleased we’ve managed to do five years – we couldn’t have done it without all the people who live around here and for that we’re grateful.

“No day is ever the same, and that’s down to the people really. That’s why we keep on doing it – every day is different because of the customers. We’ve had a good year and we hope to have another one.”

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