Scarthin Bookshop and Café

Quick Comments  

Location: In the village of Cromford, just off the A6.

Date/time of visit: I live in Cromford, so I’ve been on many occasions.

Seating/space: A reasonable amount of seats, but it can be rather cramped when busy. Some outside seating too.    

Service: Generally good, but can be varied as the staffing seems to change frequently       

Menu: Vegetarian, reasonably good but not extensive

Food quality: Generally good, home cooked, rustic and local       

Pricing: Also good – fair and sensible 

Parking: Very limited. The premises are on a narrow one-way lane overlooking the village pond. There is some free parking on the main road in the village though, only a minute away.          

Interests: Lots in the area. It’s a World Heritage site: Arkwright’s Mills, Cromford Canal, The National Stone Centre.    

Website/facebook:   Scarthin Bookshop and Café, Cromford     

Here’s my recent Tripadvisor comment

Scarthin Bookshop in Cromford, my home village, is something of a renowned local institution. It’s quant, quirky, quintessentially British and – in this age of online shopping – deservedly successful and well worth a visit. Don’t be fooled by the apparent higgledy-piggledy appearance of the interior – they know what they’re up to.

Anyway, enough about the bookshop, let’s talk café. First thing to note is that there’s no meat. It’s a vegetarian cafe. It probably has vegan fare too, but being a confirmed carnivore, I’ve never investigated such esoteric cuisine. As I’m a local, I’ve visited many times. The food has always been good and the service generally, but not always,  likewise. They seem to have different staff on duty every time I’ve been. I’m not sure what this says about the cafe, but it’s probably good for local teenage or student part time work opportunities.

Sorry, I must stop digressing. My initial judgement of any café has always been the quality of their scones. (NB Scone rhymes with gone, don, bon and Ron; it does not rhyme with bone, moan or groan.) Anyway, their scones have always been pretty good – not the best around here, but still good. Their soup of the day with a cheese scone is a very agreeable light lunch, especially on a cold day. Scarthin’s homity Pie is another good option. The cakes, tray bakes and other sweet items are definitely worth the calories.

Spacewise, it’s a bit cramped when it gets busy, but there are some outside seats – just keep turning corners and looking, you’ll find them. That reminds me, the whole shop is not wheelchair friendly. It’s not that the owners are unfriendly themselves, far from it, but the whole business is tightly crammed into several floors with lots of stairs and narrow gaps. They even have a bathroom, complete with an old bath. The last time I looked it had books in it.