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| Day 194 in Wigtown, Scotland's Book Town, with some of the community who came out to walk with me & support BRIT |
Wigtown is a town and former
Royal burgh in the Machers of Galloway in the south west of Scotland. It
lies south of Newton Stewart and east of Stranraer. It has a population of
about 1000 and is well known today as “Scotland’s national Book Town” with a
concentration of second-hand book shops.
Wigtown is known as Scotland's “book town” and its status as a book town
was planned, in order to regenerate a very depressed town (the main employers,
the creamery and distillery, having closed in the 1990s), although the
distillery (Bladnoch) has now re-opened and is distilling its own malt whisky.
There was a national search (in Scotland) for a candidate town. Wigtown once
boasted over 20 book-related businesses including bookshops and publishers, but
has seen a decline in recent years to approximately 12. The town now also plays
host to an annual Wigtown Book Festival.
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| Day 194 in Wigtown and stopping off to buy a book to support the community at Byre Book Shop - not many entrances to a shop like this one! |
Wigtown is full of character and there are lots of little cafes and tea
rooms to stop at and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere and friendliness of the
community. The book shops are fascinating and are scattered all over the
town and one in particular that I stopped to look in was called the Byre Book
Shop and tucked away down a little side street with an entrance though a tunnel
of beautiful plants.
When I was walking with young people from Wigtown and the surrounding
villages, they told me how much they wanted to be involved in the Wigtown Book
Festival. They were all inspired by British authors and have volunteered to
support Wigtown to involve, enthuse and inspire more young people to feel part
of the Festival. Rather than write about what they are doing, I have asked
Rose, who walked with me today, to tell you in her own words;
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| Young People from Wigtown who volunteer their time to inspire young people at the Teenager's Wigtown Book Festival in September |
Guest “Young People’s Blog” by
Rose Nash;
The Wigtown Book Festival is
now in its 14th year but during those years teenagers have never had
a special part in it. They have always been either too old for the
children’s festival or too young for the adults. So for the first time ever,
teenagers themselves are going to host a section for other people their
age (14-25 year olds). This festival is going to be called Wigtown: The
Festival, otherwise known as WTF. The aim of WTF is to get
young teens such as ones organising it, to take part in the book festival and
gain knowledge and experience along the way.
WTF will take
place in Wigtown – Scotland’s National Book Town from Friday 28th
September – Sunday 7th October. The festival will include
workshops and presentations from several authors and well known
inspirational figures. We have already organised for writers such as Robert
Twigger and Ian Macpherson to attend the Wigtown: The Festival this
year.
We hope that this being the
first year of WTF, it will be a success and that many young people will
benefit from it. Come along to our WTF events or simply check out our website www.wigtownthefestival.co.uk where there will be regular
updates and snippets of events, like the Facebook page ‘Wigtown: The
Festival’ or follow us on Twitter @WigtownTheFest
It was a pleasure to meet Rose
and all the young people from Wigtown and I wish them a very successful and
inspiring Festival this year.
With best wishes,
Phil