The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Does anyone know if there is a what might be loosely called an annual angling (or country sports) book fair anywhere in Southern England?

True, there is the Coch y Bondhu shop way over in farthest west Wales and River Reads way over in Devon, true, but nowhere, it seems, where one can browse books, new and old, more locally and save on car-travel costs. Experience teaches that it is much too risky buying a book from online descriptions because they are always over-hyped (in the case of a new book) and insufficiently described (in the case of second-hand). What really clinches the purchasing decision is to be able to hold the book in one's hand, study the contents page and read a paragraph or three to assess the quality of the writing.

The Romsey tackle fair has the odd book but these seem secondary to the rightful importance of the tackle displays.

...if you find such do let me know

Not exactly what you're looking for but I've bought some excellent books of the type based on critique and recommendations to be found in several posts on this forum. I think one of them is along the lines of What are you reading?

If you're ever passing through Inverness , I can highly recommend Leahy's second hand bookshop for a visit. It has an extensive section on angling. I visit the shop every trip to the Highlands; it's a tradition!

The problem with tackle fairs and books is that they are heavy to transport and most "punters" at these fairs usually have the books that you are selling. I am sure if there is a certain publication that you are after then the TFF is probably the best place to resource a copy.

Many thanks to all for those kind replies.
The cost of travel to Inverness would necessitate purchasing quite a cache of books to justify it, sadly. Coch-y-Bondhu books had an excellent Romsey display in 2022 but as they avoided Romsey in 2023, the signs are that they might have found it financially unworthwhile. Just as an aside, I've recently returned from Oxford and had hoped to find some angling-book nuggets but there were none, amazingly.
I'm old enough to remember when Smiths (and others) always had some kind of angling section; not anymore. In 2023 the UK angling-book universe is virtually underground. Apart from a very small minority of books (we know which ones), the print runs seem tiny these days, either because they fear getting remainders or the publishers perhaps seek to create cachet by limiting the run and gouging the prices accordingly. With the advent of desk-top publishing, one would have expected a richer variety of quality books. One thing I am reluctant to do is purchase any book on recommendation; far too many disappointments from doing that. End of rant...