• Homepage
  • Destinations
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Blogs I enjoy
facebook twitter pinterest instagram

Mum's Gone To …

Travel tales of an empty nester
  • Homepage
  • Destinations
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Blogs I enjoy
Home  >  Blog  >  Wigtown: Scotland’s National Book Town

Wigtown: Scotland’s National Book Town

Trish Burgess Posted on25/09/201603/11/2016 Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland 22 Comments

exterior the book shop Wigtown

Book towns were established in 1961 by book dealer Richard Booth from Hay-on-Wye. Whilst this one is the biggie in the UK there is a smaller book town in the village of Sedbergh in the Yorkshire Dales. Scotland has Wigtown. Located in Dumfries and Galloway, this enchanting town, with 900 residents, is home to 12 independent book shops and its own literary festival. The festival this year is on from 23 September to 2 October so it’s on now. If you can just drop everything and go – then do it.

There are lectures, debates and events covering all genres from children’s fiction to poetry. Celebrity authors such as comedian Susan Calman and cook Prue Leith, share a jam-packed schedule in this festival which, as it’s sponsored by the Scottish Malt Whisky Society, is bound to be a very jolly affair.

We visited Wigtown on our road trip around the region. We might easily have missed it but thankfully I realised it was just a short detour on the road from the Balcary Bay Hotel to our next stop on the west coast, Knockinaam. It was a very quiet town. In fact, it was so quiet I half expected to see tumbleweed passing us on the main street. We parked on the road in the centre of the town and mooched about. The Town Hall (County Buildings) looked an impressive edifice so we wandered in, thinking we might see something interesting but, truth be told, looking for a loo. If you are ever in a town and can’t find any public conveniences, my tip is to find the local civic building or library and you’ll find smart, free facilities.

Dougie spotted a sign to say they had an Osprey Cam on the top floor so we climbed the stairs, still not seeing a soul, and found a lovely bright room with a screen showing nesting ospreys. Having been extinct in Scotland for many years, they have been successfully reintroduced and now Scotland has more pairs than any other part of the UK. This was a real treat to see these magnificent birds and to appreciate what has been done to protect them.

Back on the streets of Wigtown, we were a little pushed for time so opted to just visit one book shop before setting off again. Luckily one, with the inventive name, The Book Shop, caught our eye. It sold second-hand books and claimed to be the largest in Scotland. It was only once we were inside and started to explore its many rooms that we realised this was probably true. It was a book-lover’s dream: higgledy-piggledy,  full of silly signs, customers’ postcard quotes and a Kindle riddled with shot-gun pellets, seemingly put out of its misery by a local poacher. There was a bed, reached by a ladder where, if you can’t get comfy with a book unless you’re under the duvet, you can do just that.

The Book Shop Wigtown

There’s a wonderful true love story attached to The Book Shop. American Jessica Fox,  media consultant for NASA, had a recurring dream of being in a dusty bookshop in Scotland, dressed in a woolly jumper, aware of the smell of the sea. Not having any connection either to bookshops or Scotland, she searched on the internet and discovered Wigtown.  You can read the full story in this Guardian article but the gist of it is that she made enquires, came over for the festival and, eventually, fell in love with the owner of the shop. She is now that woman in her dream, sitting in a dusty bookshop, dressed in a woolly jumper, smelling the sea.

Bed in the Book Shop Wigtown

We spent ages in the Book Shop, losing ourselves in the shelves. Dougie found a number of books to take home with him. Despite being surrounded by old books, I bought a new one, McMillan’s Galloway, by local author and poet, Hugh McMillan. I thought it would give me a insight into Dumfries and Galloway and it proved to be a corker, full of stories about fairies, Robert Burns, and smugglers. With chapters such as “Anthony Hopkins’ Bench” and “Feisty Women” you realise his view is refreshingly irreverent but brimming with that unshakeable affection you can only have for your own part of the world.

It’s such a shame we didn’t time our trip for Wigtown’s Book Festival as I imagine the town is completely transformed. And yet, seeing it when we did, as it dozed happily for a few weeks before all the visitors descended, maybe we weren’t short-changed after all.

Suitcases and Sandcastles

Previous Article A room with a view at the Balcary Bay Hotel
Next Article Douglas comes home to Threave Castle

Related Posts

  • Craiglockhart Hill

    Heading for the hills in Edinburgh

    18/01/2022
  • Kelvingrove Art Museum and Gallery

    Come on, Eileen! Finding the weird and wonderful in museums

    08/01/2022
  • Kerrycroy Airbnb, Aberfeldy

    Kerrycroy: self-catering accommodation in Perthshire, Scotland

    21/07/2021

22 Comments

  1. Mandy Reply
    26/09/2016 at 7:28 pm

    I think I would love The Book Shop! We visited the Watermill book shop in Aberfeldy and really enjoyed that. The book festival sounds amazing too. I’d love to visit that.

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      26/09/2016 at 8:51 pm

      We’ve been to the Watermill book shop in Aberfeldy too! Wonderful soup, from what I remember. The festival does sound great -must try and see it on another visit.

  2. Sarah Reply
    27/09/2016 at 12:32 pm

    Dangerous places, book shops like that. You can enter, and never leave (before you’ve gone through the lot!).

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      27/09/2016 at 5:57 pm

      There should be a warning on the door.

  3. Sam | Away She Went Reply
    28/09/2016 at 5:46 pm

    It’s too bad you missed the festival, but at least you missed the crowds and chaos that probably comes with it! I love the The Book Shop love story! Thanks for sharing!

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      29/09/2016 at 9:40 am

      You’re probably right – there would have been such a squeeze getting into the shops. Isn’t the story just wonderful?

  4. Emma Raphael Reply
    28/09/2016 at 8:59 pm

    Oh my gosh, that is such a fabulous shop! I love that book nook. I wonder if they would notice you were still there if you kept very still under the duvet, and then you could really go through all of the shelves thoroughly! 😀 We found a similar one in Santorini, it was amazing!

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      29/09/2016 at 9:39 am

      A book nook – that’s a great phrase. I think they are very laid back here so I suspect they wouldn’t have minded if I’d stayed all night.

  5. Lolo Reply
    03/11/2016 at 8:39 am

    Aww I love the little story of the American who had a dream about working in a bookshop in Scotland! So awesome she made her literal dreams come true! #FarawayFiles

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      03/11/2016 at 2:25 pm

      It seems so amazing you can’t quite believe it’s true but it is and that’s so fantastic, isn’t it.

  6. Clare (Suitcases and Sandcastles) Reply
    03/11/2016 at 9:37 am

    What a great post, Trish. So many things to love about that one bookshop – the bed with the duvet (honestly, I’d curl up with a book and never leave) and that story about the American and her dream is just wonderful. I could spend a long time here. Thanks so much for sharing it with us on #FarawayFiles

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      03/11/2016 at 2:23 pm

      I was sorely tempted to climb up and snuggle down. It really was a super little shop – a great find.

  7. Nell (the Pigeon Pair and Me) Reply
    03/11/2016 at 10:29 am

    What a romantic story about the NASA consultant! Makes you wonder about whether it was fate or self-determination….I really must get to Wigtown when we’re next in D & G. It’s not all that far from our cottage, but I’ve never been.

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      03/11/2016 at 2:20 pm

      I think they should make a film about it…or at least a book! Hope you do get to visit, it’s a very quiet little place but certainly worth a little trip.

  8. Nell (the Pigeon Pair and Me) Reply
    03/11/2016 at 10:30 am

    ps. FarawayFiles

  9. Erin Gustafson Reply
    03/11/2016 at 11:48 am

    I love the bookseller’s code! This shop reminds me a bit of the brilliant Barter Books in Alnwick and Shakespeare & Co. in Paris. Love independent book shops – such a cozy place to explore what to read next. Thanks for sharing with #FarawayFiles, Erin

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      03/11/2016 at 2:19 pm

      I’ve been to Alnwick but not to Barter Books – must put that right, thanks Erin!

  10. Katy Clarke Reply
    03/11/2016 at 2:40 pm

    Ooh that love story gave me goosebumps. How perfect is that? The romantic in me is just swooning! Honestly you had me at National Book Town and I also loved your Osprey Cam discovery. Hooray for loo stops! Thanks for sharing this wonderful tale on #FarawayFiles Trish

  11. Cathy (MummyTravels) Reply
    03/11/2016 at 9:58 pm

    I love that story – somewhere between spooky and wonderful. In fact the whole of Wigtown sounds rather wonderful. I loved Hay on Wye when I visited, but had no idea it had a Scottish counterpart. The booksellers code made me laugh too… #farawayfiles

  12. Ahila Reply
    04/11/2016 at 3:01 am

    Loved the story of Jessica and Shaun. Wigtown sounds like a lovely place to visit, especially during the festival.

  13. Chiera McLaughlin Reply
    04/11/2016 at 9:45 pm

    How have I lived in Scotland my whole life and never heard of this place! Added to my list imediately! ha. Thanks for sharing! #FarawayFiles

  14. Pingback: Places to visit in Dumfries and Galloway - Mum's Gone To ...

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Follow Me

Random Visits

  • Mum’s Gone to Buy Baubles 14/12/2009
  • A message from Greece – what can tourists really expect? 19/07/2015
  • Mum’s planning to go to Sweden 10/01/2012

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
facebook twitter instagram pinterest youtube

Recent Posts

  • Riverside Walk, Leamington to Warwick
    Riverside Walk from Leamington Spa to Warwick 16/05/2022
  • Craiglockhart Hill
    Heading for the hills in Edinburgh 18/01/2022
  • Kelvingrove Art Museum and Gallery
    Come on, Eileen! Finding the weird and wonderful in museums 08/01/2022
  • Paired up with Barney and Trevor at Nidderdale Llamas
    Trekking with Nidderdale Llamas 14/09/2021

Recent Comments

  • William Sell on A Holbeach man, born and bred.
  • Trish Burgess on Trekking with Nidderdale Llamas
  • Bryce on Trekking with Nidderdale Llamas
  • Mark T Coupe on Miniatures in bronze: The sculptures of Joseph Hillier in Spalding
  • Trish Burgess on Dipping my toe back into blogging
  • Bryce on Dipping my toe back into blogging
  • Trish Burgess on A visitor’s guide to toilets in Japan
  • Tilly Jaye Horseman on Miniatures in bronze: The sculptures of Joseph Hillier in Spalding

Contact Us

To contact me, please visit my Contact page.

I'm on Twitter. Find me as @mumsgoneto
I'm on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/mumsgoneto
Instagram - mumsgoneto
Pinterest - Trish Burgess
Google plus - +TrishBurgess


Designed by 79DESIGN

UK WordPress Support

Website by 79DESIGN, Lincolnshire Web Designer