Walk past the stalls of china, clocks and curios at Dagfields Crafts & Antiques Centre and you will come upon a red-brick unit with a hand-painted sign above the window announcing Record Mart, Collectors Vinyl Records. Set on Crewe Road at Walgherton, a short drive south-east of Nantwich, it is one of the more substantial second-hand music stores in South Cheshire and a real find for anyone who enjoys a proper rummage.
Background / History
Record Mart is one of the independent businesses that make up Dagfields, the sprawling rural centre that spreads across seven antiques emporiums and more than 25 individual shops, and which bills itself as the largest of its kind in the North West. The shop has carved out its own corner of the site, giving music collectors a dedicated destination among the furniture dealers, craft stalls and collectables traders. Its focus is firmly on pre-owned and collectable music, and it buys as well as sells, so the racks are fed by a steady supply of collections from across the region.
What You’ll Find
The numbers speak for themselves. Record Mart carries more than 8,000 vinyl albums and over 3,000 seven-inch singles, alongside more than 1,000 CDs, around 500 cassettes, music DVDs and a shelf of rock and pop books. LPs are filed into clearly labelled browsers, with sections for the 1960s and 1970s, the Beatles, electro-pop, compilations, indie rock, blues rock, jazz rock and southern rock, plus a dedicated new arrivals rack that rewards regular visits. The singles are just as carefully divided, with boxes for 1960s pop and beat, punk and new wave, electro-pop and indie or Britpop.
Bargain hunters are well looked after too. Outside the shop front, crates of pop and rock LPs, CDs and film DVDs are priced to clear, while inside the walls are lined with classic album sleeves, framed memorabilia and a glowing Pink Floyd sign. Record players are also on sale for anyone wanting to get started.
Experience / Atmosphere
There is a pleasingly unhurried rhythm to a visit here. Because Record Mart sits within a wider antiques centre, many people arrive for a day out and end up spending far longer flicking through the racks than they planned. The layout is tidy and well signposted, prices are clearly marked, and the mix of serious collector pieces with low-cost browsing boxes means a teenager with a few pounds and a seasoned collector hunting an original pressing can both leave happy. It feels like a shop run by people who genuinely love the music they handle.
Why Visit
- A deep second-hand stock of over 8,000 LPs and 3,000 singles
- Clearly organised genre and decade sections that make digging easy
- Bargain crates of records, CDs and DVDs at pocket-money prices
- Records, CDs and cassettes bought as well as sold
- Easy to combine with a wander around the rest of Dagfields
Summary
Record Mart turns a trip to Dagfields into something special for music lovers. With thousands of pre-owned albums and singles, sensible pricing and a well-ordered shop that invites you to linger, it is a destination worth planning a day around. Do check the opening days before setting off, as the shop closes on Thursdays and Fridays.
