The RocketshipBookshop

The Rocketship Bookshop opened in February 2020 as a shop devoted entirely to children's and young adult reading, and moved into Cross Keys Shopping Centre, by the Winchester Street entrance, in August 2025 after outgrowing its previous Bridge Street unit. Shelves run from board books through picture books and graphic novels to teenage fiction, with staff who track down specific requests rather than only stocking what publishers push hardest. The shop runs school partnerships, supplying reading lists and author visits to primaries in the area, and keeps a loyalty scheme for regular young customers. It closes on Wednesdays but otherwise trades six days, with shorter hours on Sunday. The move to Cross Keys brought more floor space for events, including story-telling sessions built around visiting authors and illustrators, continuing a format the shop ran at its old address.