'Comedian Miranda Hart inspired me to launch my business' says Haworth bookshop owner
The invitation to Downing Street is the latest in a string of accolades for her Haworth shop Wave of Nostalgia, which was named Best Independent Bookshop in the North of England by The Bookseller magazine earlier this year.
But the path to such recognition has not been a simple one – with Diane’s foray into business around 13 years ago beginning with selling handmade items at craft fairs.
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Hide Ad"I started small because I didn’t know what I was doing,” she reflects. “I had a tiny little trestle table and I learnt on my feet by talking to people and engaging with people.”


Even reaching that initial point had been a considerable journey in itself.
Diane says that as a child she dreamt of owning her own shop while as a teenager she hoped to pursue her creative skills through an art degree.
But following the death of her mother when she was just 16, life took a different direction and she took a job at Halifax Building Society to support her family.
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Hide AdShe went on to get married at 19 and had four children while juggling work, with her busy life meaning her creative talents ended up on the backburner.
But after getting divorced at 38 and then meeting Ian Park who became her second husband, Diane says she started to reassess her priorities.
"Ian was extremely supportive and I suddenly realised there was more to life than working in a corporate job, going home, looking after the family and not doing anything else. I had all this creative spirit that was stuck inside me waiting to get out.”
But her new energy didn’t immediately take her towards the business world.
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Hide AdIn her 40s, Diane became a local councillor for the Liberal Democrats and in the wake of the expenses scandal stood as an independent candidate for the Halifax seat in the 2010 election. She also became a keen athlete and even secured two British medals in indoor rowing competitions as well as completing the Great North Run and the London Marathon.
She says her life took another turn in Christmas 2012 when a friend gave her twin presents of a notebook and Miranda Hart’s memoir Is It Just Me? which covers the star's attempts to forge a career in comedy.
Diane explains: "I devoured that book and in the time between Christmas and New Year, I decided, yes I’m going to go off and follow my dream. She used to want to be a comedian and people would say to her, ‘Don’t be so silly’ and she went off and did it anyway.”
Park began to write out a basic business plan, going on “gut feeling” and thinking about how she enjoyed making items for people’s birthdays such as decoupage furniture.
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Hide Ad"I started doing vintage stalls at the weekend. I’d buy things from a charity shop or make the thing, whether it was a blouse or a dress or whatever it was, and upcycle it. One of my friends said to me, ‘Your stuff gives me such a wave of nostalgia you know’ and I thought, ‘That’s the name of the shop’.”
After managing to make money from her regular market stalls, Park took the plunge to leave her job and make a go of the business – initially using a pop-up shop in Barnoldswick for a fortnight. She ending up using the venue for three months before leasing a permanent nearby shop but eventually took the decision to move the shop to Haworth after an opportunity came up to buy a store in the village famously linked to the Brontë sisters.
The shop was initially centred on the crafts side with some books for sale but in the wake of lockdown changed its operating model to be more based around book sales – initially as an online enterprise when shops were shut.
"As I was ordering more books, one of the CEOs from the places we were ordering from said that in times of trouble people to turn to books because it is escapism. That was my lightbulb moment and we joined the Booksellers Association and got an account with a wholesaler.
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Hide Ad"I read a lot of books and I’m able to pass that passion on with recommendations. Someone will come in the shop for one book and will leave with four!”
The shop now sells fiction and non-fiction books by or about inspiring women, nature, the environment and inclusivity.
"Nothing is in alphabetical order – it is the most unusual bookshop you have probably ever seen,” laughs Diane. "It is in themed sections so it is a moveable feast.”
The shop also puts on a host of events with well-known authors and has plans for craft and creative writing courses.
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Hide AdWave of Nostalgia was recently included in the SmallBiz100 list of firms from across being celebrated in advance of Small Business Saturday, leading Diane and Ian to be invited to a reception in the House of Lords with the Small Business Minister Gareth Thomas MP.
She was also picked among a select group to also go to a breakfast event at Downing Street to meet Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves to showcase what her shop had to offer.
"I got a chance to speak to both of them. Everybody was very excited, Keir came in and shook my hand and I did my little spiel about the shop and what we do with sustainability. I gave him my little Wave of Nostalgia bookmark which is my business card if you like and he said he was short of a bookmark and put it into his jacket pocket. Everyone else’s business cards went to the PA so it was really nice.
"Then I turned around it was Rachel Reeves and she was really interested in the sustainability side and what I sold. She said she would come and visit and gave me her business card.”
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Hide AdShe says it was wonderful to have been able to represent entrepreneurs at the event.
"Small businesses are key to the running of the whole country. It is so important for businesses to have support from Government to me it seemed heartfelt and Keir genuinely listened to what I said.
"We need people to vote with their money and use small businesses. Sometimes it might cost more money but you can buy something of quality and something that is meaningful rather than something mass made.”
She adds: “I’d love to do more inspiring other people to start their own business, especially young women. The hardest thing is that first step because it is scary – you can’t guarantee you are going to get paid and what you are going to sell.
"But as Miranda Hart said, ‘If you don’t go and do it, you are never going to know’.
"It is hard work but the whole thing is so exciting.”