Stroud Bookshop

The bookshop stands at the corner where Stroud's farmers' market meets the pedestrianised High Street — as central as a shop can be, in both senses — and behaves the way the town expects its independents to: for the past three years it has put book vouchers into the hands of every reception-class child across ten local primary schools, and the ordering service covers whatever the shelves don't. Open six days, half nine to five.