Heffers Bookshop

Date of visit: October 2022

I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: accessing toilets and moving around.

I use or have experience of: disabled toilet

Overall Rating

This is the biggest bookshop in Cambridge and has generally good step-free access to all areas, but it is spoilt by unreliable lifts - approach with extreme caution.

Disabled Access In and Around

Heffer's is laid out on several levels. The main entrance is step-free and it's easy for a wheelchair user to get around the ground floor. But if you want to get to other levels, you have to take one of the platform lifts. These lifts are extremely unreliable and can break down at any moment, potentially leaving you stranded with no way of leaving the shop. This happened to me on my most recent visit. It was not a happy experience. To get to the very top level of the shop, you have to exit the shop, turn left, turn left again down a side passage, and enter the shop again through a door at the end of this passage. Once inside again, you will find another platform lift. Do not attempt to shop here if you are in a hurry. The unreliability of the lifts means that you could get stuck here for quite a long time. In my view these lifts are not fit for purpose and are not adequately maintained.

Parking & Transport

The shop is 1.4 miles from Cambridge railway station. Bus PR4 will get you from the station to the centre of town (Drummer Street bus station) in very few minutes. Cambridge is reasonably well served by buses but they do not pass very near to Heffer's. Cars have little access to the city centre, and parking is difficult. I would not recommend visiting the centre of Cambridge by car or trying to park there.

Accessible Toilets

0

I don't believe this shop has any toilets of any type for customer use.

Staff

All the staff I met were charming, friendly and helpful, and very apologetic for the lift failure I experienced. Whilst some members of staff may have a bluff or grumpy manner, this is merely a surface manifestation. They are actually friendly deep down, and eager to be helpful. One star lost for the failure to keep the lifts in good and reliable working order.

Additional Information

This used to be a serious academic bookshop, but it has in recent years downgraded to a very ordinary bookshop focusing very heavily on selling popular titles. This is very disappointing. There is a large second-hand section which is worth browsing in, but don't expect any bargains, prices are high. I will not ever visit this shop again, because the unreliability of the lifts and the risk of getting stuck somewhere is too big a deterrent.

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