CHRIS CANN

Chris Cann was one of the two founders of Mushroom Bookshop. Originally, the bookshop was set up because ‘they liked books and wanted to save the world’. They moved to Hockley in 1972, setting up right next to the Nottingham Cooperative Centre. It was initially one room, and the back of the shop was separated from the main floor by hanging a bed spread, with only 2 members of staff.

When the bookstore moved into Number 10 Heathcote Street, the infrastructure became more official. The move offered them more space, which they had used to sell artworks and items created by local creatives. The shop was always covered in the aroma of patchouli and sandalwood incence and decorated with badges of different political slogans and images of dieties. The books that were stocked in the shop included a diverse set of titles, but there was a focus on female protagonists and multicultural characters and always stocked with vegetarian cookbooks.

Chris states that Hockley was an area where ‘a lot happening’ around them, with ‘Ice Nine’ around the corner that would keep her in supply of jewellery, and ‘Beehive’ was one of the early vegetarian restaurants in the area and the firs place she tried hummus. At the time, the area was a hub for those who were interested in environmental care, and ‘Hiziki’ was a spot where you could buy food on the ground floor and then go upstairs to plan a protest. This created a sense of community for like minded young people to share their values and beliefs. The noticeboard in Mushroom was a community cornerstone, acting as a Facebook of the time and Chris would staple leaflets together to make booklets for people.

However, this came with adversity, as vandals would target the buildings around the area, where ‘Wholefoods’ and the bookstore would get their windows smashed. They eventually had to install wire grills outside the shop for security reasons. Chris left Mushrooms in the 1980s.