SOME months ago a rumour reached me that the legendary Blake Head Bookshop and vegetarian cafe in Micklegate, York, had closed.

I was reluctant to believe it so. I first walked in there in the early 1990s. It was then owned by David Lambourne, writer of children’s books, who now lives in the south of France. Its ambience immediately determined me to write a novel set there.

Recently, I was able to check out the Blake Head and found that what I’d heard was sadly true.

A notice on the door read: “To all our customers, Please accept our apologies. We are closing until further notice. Thanks for your loyalty and support. The Blake Head.”

Behind the door one could see a spilling pile of mail. Two women joined me in the doorway, one from Leeds, the other Manchester.

They had planned to lunch together at the Blake Head.

I shared in their disappointment sharpened by a menu still attached to a window.

My most abiding interest, however, is having modelled on the Blake Head my novel, The Cappuccino Club at Jacob’s Well ($19.95, Eloquent Books), published last year in the US.

The name Jacob’s Well was taken from the medieval hall in nearby Trinity Lane.

Ron Willis, First Avenue, Mount Lawley, Western Australia.