Chesterfield market trader goes viral after ‘incredibly special’ moment

Ed Fordham runs Brockwell Books of Chesterfield on the market every Thursday and Saturday.

MORE: Met Office issues yellow thunderstorm warning for Derbyshire

In tweets which have been shared and liked hundreds of times since Saturday, Ed said: “Today a chap came to the stall – I would say early 70s. He picked up a book from the £1 section and asked how much it was. I explained it was £1.

“He thrust £5 at me and insisted I keep the change. As I tried to give him change he started shaking and was on the verge of tears.

“I have just sold him a book he never knew existed written by his late father. He says I have made his year and he left almost bouncing and crying and beyond excited. This is why I stand on the market.”

Ed told the Derbyshire Times: “Hilariously I don’t know who he was nor the book – other than it was about sailing.

“It was a small unassuming book, nothing special at all – not to me anyway, but it was to him.

“It was so incredibly special and only as he left did I realise the magnitude of what had just happened.”

Commenting on Ed’s tweets, a number of people said it was a ‘wonderful’ story.

One woman said: “Life as a bookseller is peppered with moments like the beautiful one you shared. Books move and transport us, shape us, enrapture and console us.”

MORE: Companies comment on empty shelves at Chesterfield stores

Support your Derbyshire Times by becoming a digital subscriber. You will see 70 per cent fewer ads on stories, meaning faster load times and an overall enhanced user experience. Visit www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/subscriptions