This is the rival antiquarian bookshop in Lewes- the rival outfit to Bow Window Bookshop- and to be…read morehonest, it's a little disappointing. It always has fabulous window displays full of refernce books- large size hardback vintage reference books with fantastic colour images. And they often have great children's books in the window. When you actually walk in though it seems very small and out of reach, literally, in glass fronted bookcases. I suppose I always like looking of for novels, and as the windows do suggest, they specialise in reference books here. The prices seem quite high as well- but then I don't know much about vintage nature books, geography books or anthropology books.

I have to say I disagree with Emma's assessment of A & Y Cumming as I think it is just as good as…read moreBow Window Books, but in a different way. A & Y Cumming, unlike the pristine and tasteful shopfront and interior design of Bow Window, is a little more ramshackle (not much but a little more) and the books on display are of a more weird and wonderful mix. There was an old penguin copy of Conrad's seafaring novel Suspense, as well as an old leather bound copy of the darlky named The Lust of Hate, by Guy Boothby, as well as a large selection of other leather bound reference books. Very interesting I must say.

These poor guys lost 50% of their stock and suffered horrendous water damage in the floods of 2000…read morebut have successfully pulled things back on track with the help of an excellent online ordering service backing up the friendly and cozy shop. They specialise in military history books from before and after the two World wars. I've bought a couple of things from here and they really are interesting and educational at the same time. In my opinion, its a lot better going to a proper bookshop than lurking around on Amazon.

My word, if ever there was a bookshop for boys this was it. Tanks, planes, race cars, steam engines…read moreand several volumes by Jeremy Clarkson, ha haaaaah wonderful if they sold airfix kits and cap guns they would be well away. As it says on the front these folks are military history specialists, but that's not all they cover here, while you may be hard pushed to find a section on trash paperback romance novels there are a few reference sections that ladies might find interesting. God knows I don't want to draw stereotypes, but the selection of girls that would find what the Lewes Book Centre has to offer interesting is definitely going to be smaller than that of the boys. The folks that work here seem a little odd but in my experience that's par for the course for anyone who has a little too much to do with military history. Come, spend a few hours browsing, leave with a manual for a Sherman tank and wonder why you don't know more about heavy artillery.

A beautiful family run bookshop. Lots of old books that you…read morewont find anywhere else. Its nicely laid out for you to spend most of your morning looking through the huge selection

This is a very Lewes Shop, luxurious and rich paint, beautiful, intellectual and interesting…read morecollectors items, and well laid out and tidy. If your looking for a second hand place that is like the 15th century bookshop, ramshackle and ridiculously quaint, this is not the type of place. This is for serious collectors who have nice clean houses with a few choice things (maybe?), not for mad old bag ladies, which you could imagine cram into the 15th century bookstore in droves. I saw some beautiful leatherbound classics, as well as some interesting art books. There was a book here that was going for £600. Now come on!

This is the most classic of bookshops- as the name suggests it has beautiful bow windows- an…read moreelegant dark red frontage, wooden floors, wooden floor to ceiling bookshelves and row after row of leather bound, cloth bound, dust-covered classic books, first editions and rare books. It has a hushed and reverent feel to it when you first walk in, but quickly as you scan through the books you realise that there are all kinds of books here- all second-hand and prime condition- but not all out of reach. You can't go in and find any number of books for a few pounds but you can buy a great hardback first edition of an Anita Loos, Paul Auster, Ian McEwan or an art book for between £10 and £20. Or...you could spend several hundred (even thousands) on a rare and/or old book.

This stationers- they have more stationery than books in this branch- is quite a nice break from…read moreall the hand crafted, limited edition statiobery in the rest of Lewes. This place sells your more mundane pens, notebooks, calendars, cards, and sometimes that it what you want-some straightforwardness. It's also cheaper than other Lewes sources so if you want to save a little check this place out.

A beautifully quaint bookshop that wouldn't be out of place etched onto a teapot…read more The independent bookshop is full to the brim of classics and contemporary favourites, and the interior is surprisingly sharp and defined. Covering all of life's benchmarks, baby books, learning and educational though to teen orientated literature. Lovely and friendly staff with smiles wider than their range of books.

Fantastic for kids! Who needs school when you could leave…read morethe kids here? Well you can't leave the kids here but they wish you would. A really great shop filled with plenty of books for children of all ages. Beautifully run cosy shop not to be missed for your kids sake.

Cafe has gone. Far too much space for children's stuffed toys. chard…read morecharge 25p for a paper bag to hold some expensive greetings cards. Now only worth visiting to choose books to order on amazon

I went in here looking for a nice new dinosaur book for my grandsons and while looking I noticed…read morethat they served drinks and grandmas getting a bit old so I needed a nice drink and a rest. I sat down and drank my drink and took of my back brace being careful that I didn't flash everyone my nipples. As I was sitting here I kept getting weird glares so I got up and limped to go find my grandsons some new books.I found the perfect one and as I reached up my back snapped and I couldn't move I had to take my t-shirt off because I needed my back brace back on. As I was trying to get my back brace back I got kicked out because I was walking around the shop half naked. End of the story is I didn't get my back brace or t-shirt back and I didn't get my poor grandsons books.

The ill named Station Bookshop is actually more of a newsagents; they do have two little…read morewheelie-stands of books, but by far the most shelf space in this dimly lit grey shop is given over to magazines and snacks. They do have quite a wide selection of magazines, and they also have several stands of greetings cards. That, combined with the florists Miss Bloomsbury which also inhabits the station building mean that Lewes station is fairly well-equipped to provide you with some last minute presents - providing you need them before 5.30pm. The woman who runs the Station Bookshop is quite grumpy, but I'm not surprised because the low neon lighting in the shop is rather depressing. Basically, it's not lovely, but is useful if you want some water or a paper before you hop on a train.

Si's sounds is the type of independent record shop that you can get to feeling really at home in…read more It has a great balance between loud exciting music and friendly personal service that gets you into the right mind frame to enjoy all that they have to offer. The whole place is a perfect little package of general home entertainment stocking games, music and comics all wrapped up with colourful and punky graphics. Si (the proprietor) is, in person, just as fantastic as the caricature of himself on the business card. With his red hair and portly stature he put me in mind of NOFX's Fat Mike, however where, were he Fat Mike, there would be a dry and cynical outlook on the world there is a friendly and sociable demeanour. The stock here is great too; the last time I visited they had a wall devoted to Bowie vinyls and a great section of modern rock. It is all I bit in the rock direction though as the name and graphics suggest, this is not the kind of place one might pick up a copy of say the Planets Sweet.

This record shop is an old-school independent music shop, owned and staffed by Si, whose visage…read moregraces the A board at the top of the road. From the look of him, and the majority of the stock, Si is a bit of an old-school rocker. I'd say the shop was about 60% vinyl and 40% CDs, which are not organised in any discernible fashion, except perhaps what he lumps in together; one label read 'Radiohead, Doves, Snow Patrol, etc.' I'm fairly sure I know some people who would be rather cross at the idea that Radiohead were somehow similar to Snow Patrol, but there you go. This is obviously a shop run by an enthusiast, for other enthusiasts, who like to spend a long time browsing. Although from what I know from watching High Fidelty, I thought all musos were OCD about how they organise their music collections. The CDs are fairly cheap, many were £4, which is good for an independent music shop. I think it would be a good place to come if you wanted to have a long chat about metal from the 1980s, or the merits of vinyl.