Burton upon Trent is better known for brewing than for record collecting, yet Station Street has quietly held on to one of the most old-fashioned vinyl shops in the county. Henry’s Records occupies number 117, a black frontage set into a tall Victorian parade, with a window papered corner to corner in album sleeves and a hand-lettered sign above the door.
Background / History
The shop has traded from this address for well over twenty years and has changed remarkably little in that time, outlasting the chains, the format wars and most of its neighbours on the same stretch of street. It is run by John, whose memory for records, labels and pressings is a large part of why people keep returning. The house line is that all stock is guaranteed by the kind-hearted owner, and that staff are kept in order by an employee of the month award meant to interrupt their perpetual coffee drinking and music listening. That dry humour runs through the place.
What You’ll Find
Vinyl and CDs share the space in roughly equal measure, second-hand copies making up the bulk of the stock with newer titles arriving alongside. LPs and 12 inch singles fill the browsers, CDs and CD singles take up the shelving, and music books, videos, posters and memorabilia occupy whatever room is left. The stock is broken into a long list of sections: rock and metal, country, jazz and big band, jazz rock, blues, folk, soul, reggae, psychedelia, punk, rock and roll, easy listening, world, male and female vocal, comedy, film and television, stage and screen and box sets, then a miscellaneous rack for everything that still refuses to fit. Want lists are welcome, anything not on the shelves can be asked after by phone or email, and orders go out first class.
Experience / Atmosphere
Inside, the shop is narrow and packed from floor to ceiling. Racks run down both walls and along the middle, sleeves are pinned above head height, and barely an inch is left doing nothing. It rewards patience, because the pleasure lies in working steadily through a rack rather than heading straight for a display of new releases. John is happy to talk, and visitors tend to leave with a record and a story attached to it. The offer of a cup of tea to anyone calling in is meant sincerely. Hours are short, Friday and Saturday from half past ten until half past three, so plan around them.
Why Visit
- Deep second-hand racks across more than twenty clearly marked genre sections, from big band jazz to punk
- CDs, CD singles, music books, videos, posters and memorabilia alongside the vinyl
- An owner who knows the stock and is glad to help track down a particular pressing
- A want list and mail order service for anything not on the shelves
- One of Burton’s longest-standing independents, still trading much as it always has
Summary
Henry’s is a second-hand record shop of the older school, run by someone who cares what is in the racks and enjoys talking about it, in a town where nothing else does quite the same job. Set aside a Friday or Saturday morning, take your time in the browsers, and expect to leave with something you were not looking for.
