A single-room independent bookshop on the curved Bretonside street, opened in October 2022 by El Redman with the help of the Queer District Collective. Fiction, poetry, theory, YA, a dedicated neurodiversity section, locally-printed zines, and a monthly LGBTQIA+ fiction book club. The building itself carries a Plymouth City Council blue plaque to Mrs Ann Farley, who baked Farley\'s Rusks in this exact unit from 1887 to 1915. A woman-led family-food business then, a queer-family bookshop now.
Stock spans fiction, poetry, theory, children\'s, teen and YA, LGBT history, neurodiversity, and a writers\' craft section added in April 2025. The shelves are arranged spine-out by colour rather than alphabetically by author, which makes the room photograph like a paint chart and lets readers browse by mood instead of by name.
Literary fiction and queer romance side by side. Red, White and Royal Blue and its shelf-neighbours. Recent sapphic and gay paperback releases through Chuck Tingle's November 2024 Straight. The shelves are arranged spine-out by colour, not by author.
Picture books with queer families and same-sex parents, the teen-and-YA shelves the Plymouth-area secondary-school librarians come in for, and the kind of children's representation reviewers single out as "absolutely beautiful".
Section choices that distinguish the shop from any chain branch. Dedicated shelves for LGBT history, academic and theory texts, and a deep neurodiversity section. Customers note the asexual-representation depth in particular.
Plymouth-printed Queer+There, a zine of the city's queer past, present and future, sold from a small wooden A-frame at the front. From April 2025 a staff-picked writing-craft section for queer authors who want to write their own.
The bookshop runs as a community hub for the LGBTQIA+ community in Plymouth and the wider South West, sitting inside the £8K+ Queer District Collective ecosystem on Bretonside alongside 37 Looe Street, The Swallow, Minerva Café and The Little Box.
Run with the Queer District Collective. Focuses explicitly on queer voices in fiction. Free to join. Sign-up by email or in the shop.
One of five named BretonPride trail venues for the month-long festival, alongside 37 Looe Street, The Swallow, Minerva Café and The Little Box. Programme published by Pride in Plymouth.
The shop travels: pop-up tables at South West pride events through the year, plus the Exeter City of Literature Book Market on Exeter Cathedral Green (most recent: Sunday 8 June 2025, 11am to 4pm).
The bookshop opened its physical doors at 41 Bretonside in October 2022. El Redman, the owner, ran the business online and as a pop-up at pride events across the South West through 2022, until the Queer District Collective helped secure the Bretonside lease and the shop became a storefront.
The premises itself carries a Plymouth City Council blue plaque. From 1887 to 1915 this exact unit was the bakery from which Mrs Ann Farley and her family produced Farley\'s Rusks, the rusks that became the national infant-food brand. The plaque is still mounted on the brickwork beside the shop entrance. A woman-led family-food business then; a queer-family bookshop now.
“If I am able to sell one book that helps someone understand a family member, or themselves, that is genuinely enough.”
“Shines as a welcoming space for the LGBTQIA+ community.”
“A glorious celebration of all things LGBTQ+. Tucked away like a secret waiting to be discovered.”
The shop sits on the curved Bretonside street that runs down toward Sutton Harbour and the Barbican, on the eastern side of Plymouth city centre. The council\'s Bretonside (B) car park is next door; Drake Circus is a 4-minute walk uphill.
| Monday | Closed |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 10:00 to 17:00 |
| Wednesday | 10:00 to 17:00 |
| Thursday | 10:00 to 17:00 |
| Friday | 10:00 to 17:00 |
| Saturday | 10:00 to 18:00 |
| Sunday | 10:00 to 16:00 |
Closed Mondays. Late on Saturday for the natural Bretonside trail day; short on Sunday for the post-brunch harbour-side trade.
The shop stocks Queer+There, a zine of Plymouth\'s queer past, present and future, printed locally and sold from a small wooden A-frame at the front of the shop. It is the kind of stock that shows immediately, without any words, what the curation is doing differently from a chain branch.
“If I am able to sell one book that helps someone understand a family member, or themselves, that is genuinely enough.” El Redman, ITV News West Country, 2 June 2022
Allies are explicitly welcome. The About page reads: "a safe space where members and allies of the LGBTQIA+ community can gather". The shop is queer-run and queer-curated, and the door is open to anyone who wants to read or browse.
Yes, four ways, all of which keep the commission with the shop. The toqs.co.uk Shopify storefront posts UK-wide with free shipping over £50. Bookshop.org UK lists the shop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/toqs. Hive ships books direct at hive.co.uk/Shops/old-queeriosity-shop-plymouth. Libro.fm handles audiobooks with a free first-month subscription for new sign-ups.
The shop is a single-room independent bookshop at 41 Bretonside, ground floor on the curved Bretonside street. If access is a concern please email hello@toqs.co.uk before visiting and the owner will walk you through the specifics for the day you are coming in.
The monthly LGBTQIA+ fiction book club runs in collaboration with the Queer District Collective. Drop into the shop or email hello@toqs.co.uk with your name and the next title you would like to be added for, and the owner will confirm the date and place for that month's meet.
Yes. The writing-craft section launched in April 2025 partly to support queer authors in the South West, and the shop hosts signings and pop-ups for local writers in the region. Email hello@toqs.co.uk with a short note about your book, your release date and where you are based, and the owner will reply within a couple of working days.