Inside The Scottish Town That Refused To Die

In the mid-1990s, a small Scottish town in Dumfries and Galloway in Southern Scotland was grappling with abandoned buildings and one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

Once the administrative heart of the region, many buildings had fallen into disrepair, and the historic county buildings on the town square even faced the threat of demolition.

But then, everything changed. The town was selected from six contenders to become Scotland’s National Book Town. Let’s discover how Wigtown turned its fate around.

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If we haven't met before... Hi, I'm Ruth 👋 and I recently bought a campervan to travel my home country of Scotland after living overseas for 12 years. I’ve hardly seen anything or been anywhere in Scotland and now is the time to change that!

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00:00 - Arriving in Wigtown
01:08 - History of Wigtown
02:11 - The Old Bank Bookshop
06:21 - The Open Book
10:31 - Reading Lasses
10:48 - The BookShop Wigtown
15:59 - The Wigtown Book Festival

[lynnemcewan]

I'm so thrilled you chose In Dark Water for your next read! Thank you so much! The Old Bank Bookshop is a something special and I've found titles there for my research I've failed to find anywhere else, as well as a fantastic selection of new books. A fab tour around Wigtown, one of my favourite places in Scotland, and I loved hearing about its history. Book lovers are special people who make places special. Great stuff

[davegoodridge]

What an charming town. Long may it thrive. Thank you Ruth

[bruceblack-cs]

1:34 Ruth, we really enjoy your videos. The out of the ordinary places you go are great and make us want to follow “in ur footsteps”

[daviddb]

What a lovely tour! It was nice not only to hear of the revival of Wigtown, but really a revival of the traditional bookshop. Online shopping does not have such character. Thanks again for a wonderful video!

[frankreidy]

Always a joy with Ruth posts a video - Wigtown looks worth a visit.

[jameswelch]

Very nice to see a community reinvent itself and to thrive in today’s chaotic world.👍🇺🇸

[ReneMaxwell-wn]

I am an avid reader and a lover of traditional books. This blog segment is officially my favorite so far. When I get to Scotland, this lovely little town will be at the top of my list of places to visit😊

[alchemist]

You really are turning into a great advert for our wee country . Love your content 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[pjk]

Awww you left your experience out at the bakery.

It's a charming town.
Im glad it's on the map for people to visit.

[voneschenbachmusic]

Wow - I love historic towns like this but they can seem very bleak but having bunch of bookshops would make for a very cozy town experience!

[DSTWizz]

Thank you so much for this one, Ruth! My late wife and I owned a bookshop in the north of England for over 30 years, and the great interviews you did with the shop proprietors in Wigtown had a particular resonance for me. What a wonderful video this is!

[derekcopsey]

To see so many books and bookshops in the digital age is fantastic. I wouldn't have known this town ever existed. Thanks for sharing Ruth, enjoyed the video 😊.

[rwardel]

What a great video! So many vloggers are a little self-obsessed and/or superficial, but you really dived into the town and its people and businesses. I spent childhood holidays in Wigtownshire, and it was lovely to be reminded of those days.

[duncankilburn]

I really like visiting these smaller towns & villages, great video as always.

[louisewhite]

Good evening Ruth it’s only me from down south – I hope you had a good week and that you’re keeping well – this week hasn’t been too good especially as I was in hospital on Friday I had four root canal fillings. It was done under sedation though. ~ I have my medication so now I can settle down and watch your video a bit of calmness and peacefulness.~ have a great week sending loads of love and hugs as always Xxx Xxx

[edwardmacintosh]

This video kind of tugs at your heart, for the little town that could. And it did, transform it's fate to a vibrant success by sheer determination of its people.
Well done WIGTOWN. And all its good citizens. Tks for the vid.

[willevans]

I was there, I bought books, I said to my friend that there are a lot of bookshops in this town, its only now I know why lolol well done Ruth brilliant theme today

[irwin]

Wigtown looks like a great little town. Thanks for the video as always Ruth ❤

[neilford]

Another place we never visited when growing up. Got to visit! Sedbergh in Cumbria is a book town too.

[PurposeSpeaker]

I enjoy books. I'm going to publish my second book pretty soon, too. I'm so glad they saved the town. Great interviews as well Ruth. Cheers.