Issue №27 | 25 November 2019 | The Wigtown Special
Issue №27 | 25 November 2019 | The Wigtown Special
Madainn mhath, or hello in Scottish Gaelic. If you follow us on social media (and if not, why not — you heathens), you may have guessed that we’ve spent this week running The Open Book, a quaint little second-hand bookshop in Wigtown, Scotland.
From a family of American Baptists, who decided Alex was in need of saving by the big JC himself, to a journalist who wanted to interview us for a leading Chinese newspaper, our customers were as eclectic in their personalities as in their taste for books.
Luckily for you, we’re here to share some of the great cultural bits and bobs that got us through a week in a town with only one pub, 900 people and incredibly patchy wifi. Sometimes, you’ve gotta go old school. Freya and Alex
Do
A trip to Wigtown…
Right, Wigtown. What is it? Where is it? Why on earth did we go? Where do we recommend for snacking stations on the way? And, most importantly, how did anyone let us run a bookshop for a week with absolutely no qualifications (apart from two slightly average 2:1s in English and Music respectively from the University of Leeds)? All good questions.
We answer all this and more in the link below. Click it. You know you want to.
A recipe…
Katy Hill’s Winter Cookbook: French Onion Soup and Toast
According to Katy, onions are underrated. So she’s here with another winter warmer for you to try — this time in the form of french onion soup and toast. Plus, it’s cheap. Result.
Hear
The Bookshop Jukebox
Running a bookshop is not all fun and games — it’s hard graft. You’ve got to get the vibe right. Luckily, we had plenty of time to cultivate the perfect ambience during our stay at The Open Book.
So we present to you the six albums that brought us the most joy over the course of the week. Disclaimer: they’re earthy and acoustic.
Read
A book…
The Diary of a Bookseller — Shaun Bythell
How did we discover this rural Scottish town in the middle of effing nowhere, you ask? Freya read a book about it, of course. Shaun Bythell owns the largest second-hand bookshop in Wigtown, and wrote about his day-to-day life in The Diary of a Bookseller and its sequel, Confessions of a Bookseller.
His observations of the weird and wonderful characters that walk through his bookshop’s doors are pitch perfect. His characteristic grumpiness is surprisingly charming. Wigtown’s residents all appear in its pages, so you’ll be sufficiently prepped for your visit.
We cannot recommend this book strongly enough — it’s the perfect Christmas read. It’s also being turned into a TV series. Quelle surprise. Freya and Alex
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What we learnt from our time running a bookshop
This week really wasn’t what we expected. We were welcomed with warmth and kindness by the people of Wigtown, and have come away with a really fuzzy feeling in our tummies. And that’s only partially down to the questionable local beer we consumed by the barrel.
Are we ready to cast aside our illustrious careers (cue the sniggers from the back row) and embark on a life in a tiny seaside town with nothing but books for company? We’ve given our honest thoughts — no holes barred — on the experience.
#Capitalism
With a new job comes a new lunch box. This is at the top of Alex’s list.
Marimekko is doing a collaboration with Uniqlo. That’s all Freya’s going to say on the matter before she fights you to get the best bits in her basket.
Odds and Ends
This isn’t a very good a capella group.
Yes, we’re sharing our own tweets but seriously, how good is this book we found in the shop.
