Gwydion’s Garden — Hebden Bridge’s newest shop for old books — is a treasure trove of all things green, earthy and countercultural. Here, proprietor and 2x world nettle-eating champion Bethan Hodges speaks to CBTR editor Diva Harris about alternative living, books for your third eye, what can be gleaned from nature-adjacent publications of days past, and Biker Mice from Mars.

Hello! Gwydion’s Garden looks incredible — an absolute treasure trove of all things green, earthy and countercultural. How did it come about as an idea? What is the shop’s ethos?

Thanks! It came about both slowly and quickly. I’ve been a collector for a good few years of 60’s/70s underground press, particularly anything to do with ecology and alternative ways of living.

The shop came about as I was struggling to find work after moving from Wales. A unit became available, so the stars aligned and I’m glad that things have worked out the way they have.

If it has any ethos I think it would be a guiding belief that another world is possible.

Can you tell us about the shop’s name? 

The shop is called Gwydion’s Garden which is taken from Gandalf’s Garden, a counter-culture spot in London and Gwydion Fab Dôn from the fourth branch of the Mabinogion who was an enchanter and born of the trees. I feel like both represent the spirit of what’s inside the books.

Have you always liked old books and ephemera? What has your relationship to books been like over the course of your life?

I’ve always been drawn to typography, comics and self-publishing. I used to send off for punk zines when I was younger which had a huge influence on me and my outlook on the world. I definitely owe a great deal to the people who wrote and published those zines. Music was definitely my way into reading and then comics got me excited about creating new worlds.

I love bits of ephemera and I’ve got a collection on the go of some of the things I find in the books. It tells you a lot about its journey through various hands and homes. I also have notes that people have written me too, for example someone gave me a note that said the book was horrid and cursed. I’m wondering if I should tell the person who eventually buys it.

I leave most of the ephemera in the book though because I feel like it’s meant for that person to find and keep. I also don’t always find it, so sometimes when people let me know it’s a surprise to me too!

I’d say my relationship with reading and owning books has been a tricky one. I remember not being a wholly enthusiastic reader in school. I seem to remember lying a lot to my teachers about what I was reading, like the time I said I was reading Ivanhoe when I was actually reading Biker Mice from Mars. So it’s something I’ve formed a better relationship with as an adult.

What is your favourite item in the shop right now? Do you have any personal favourite magazines or books that you like to look out for, and if so can you tell us about them?

My favourite at the moment is Granfaloon which is a fantasy fanzine from the 70s. Just the paper stock, hand drawn typefaces and illustrations are beautiful.

Mother Earth News is also great, it’s so full of great information and is still being published. I’ve learnt a lot from it and the sister publication Lifestyle, so I always look for them.

In general I have a very long list of the things  that I look out for, but it’s great to be surprised by finding things I’m not expecting.

Is there a “holy grail” publication you’re always looking for for your personal collection?

I recently found it! It’s a natural building book called Dwelling by River from 1977 which I’ve been thinking about for a very long time. I had to pinch myself when I found it in a book shop in Swansea for 35p. It’d be a rare book to find in California where it was made, let alone in South Wales. It felt really bizarre timing to find it and maybe a little cosmic nod that I’m on the right track.

I’ve got my eye on a few things for my own collection that are likely unattainable! Way out of my price point would be the Modern Utopian issues by Dick Fairfield. I’d love to see inside them.

There’s also the complete collection of Fuck You/ A Magazine of the Arts by Ed Sanders of the Fugs which is being sold for £33,000. I hope a museum buys it. I have some Tuli Kupfberg magazines and I’m always interested in anything Fugs/publishing related.

What kinds of things can we glean from nature-adjacent publications of days past?

There was a level of optimism in those publications that has definitely changed. There is a lot of discourse about some of the publications being too idealistic but I’d argue that it’s worse to passively accept the world as it is.

What I take from a lot of the publications is that the nuts and bolts of creating energy, growing food and living in community have been tried and tested for many many years and we should still trust and use that information. And in the days of AI…protect it.

It’s interesting for me to read those publications and look at where the author is now. Do they still live the life they wrote about back then? Sometimes it’s yes, sometimes no and sometimes it’s not as straightforward. I’ve read accounts from some of the back to the land writers that they don’t believe self-sufficiency is possible but that just tells me that we truly need each other and we need community.

The pressing issues at the time may have been slightly different but they do ultimately link back to a central problem of an extractive system that puts profit before people.

Your stock — not just the books but also your posters and badges — brings together a few different strands: gardening, nature, cooking, spiritualism, activism and the politics of peace, to name a handful. The tagline on your posters sums it up (delightfully) as “Books for your third eye”.  What kinds of books open the third eye? What kinds of qualities are you looking for in a Gwydion’s Garden book — be that aesthetic, or ideological? How would you best define the banner under which all the wonderful things you stock come together?

I think the banner would be a triptych of hope, curiosity and wonder. I think a good Gwydion’s Garden book would make you question reality in a positive way and maybe take you down some rabbit holes to other writers and topics, and then down some ant holes into even weirder stuff.

I’ll always gravitate to anything that was part of the counter-culture movement. In terms of aesthetics I’m a typography nerd so sometimes I will unashamedly acquire a book purely because I love the typeface and hope for the best in terms of what’s inside.

I’m also motivated to save information that I think is really important. For example I have a few flora and fauna books from countries who have been at war. That feels really vital to protect, especially as a tactic of war is to destroy the food system and the soil, which in turn wipes out beneficial plants and species. Having a record of what was abundant before the war is another way of recording the harm done to the people.

What drew you to Hebden Bridge? What are some of your favourite features of the nearby landscape? Have you foraged anything good from the hedgerows recently?

It’s a really beautiful place with a beautiful landscape. The thing I love the most is all of the moss, ferns, lichen and mushrooms. I also really like hearing stories about all the mystical and cosmic happenings in the valley.

I collect seeds for the shop on walks, so there’s usually some free seed to take home with a book. Foraging is definitely something I could do with knowing more about. As someone who has sold a lot of copies of Food for Free by Richard Mabey, I could do with reading a copy myself!

I can’t help but ask about your world champion nettle-eating. I believe you’ve won the world nettle-eating championships 2x over, which, aside from anything else, is cool as hell. I’m probably clutching at stingy stalks here, but I wondered: how can nettle-eating inform what you’re doing with the shop — or, more widely, how can nettle-eating inform the way you life your life?

Haha I actually think it deepened my connection with that particular plant! I have an affinity with the nettle and it’s such an important plant to me that I want to champion. It’s food, it’s medicine, it’s a host plant for so many living creatures and it’s deeply misunderstood and overlooked.

I guess my participation in the nettle eating came about from a lack of thinking things through, and the book shop also came about without really thinking it through and I know there is the saying ‘grasp the nettle’. So maybe that’s a good way to approach some things in life.

I think having a deep connection with a plant is a good thing to seek out for yourself. Spend time with it, watch it change through the seasons, learn what creatures call it home and which ones call it food, protect it, keep its seed and join its cycle through the year. I have a few plants and trees that are special to me, particularly nettle, yew and mugwort.

Finally, if Gwydion’s Garden was a physical garden, what plants would be growing in it and why?

It would have really good soil with lots of worms and as many host plants as possible for all the bugs and pollinators. Lots of tall plants for spiders.

There’d be all the worts — mugwort, ragwort, stitchwort etc. Probably lots of illegal structures with an open door for everyone. And an abundance of nettles!

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Gwydion’s Garden, Hebble End Works, Hebden Bridge is open Thursday -Sunday, 11am – 4pm. Follow the shop on Instagram here.