“First literary themed B&B”
As told by Nicole Court
Craigmount B&B is a substantial three-storey Georgian former Manse on the edge of Wigtown in Dumfries and Galloway, our special refurbishment of the house is part of the Spot-lit initiative which is helping to promote the region as Scotland’s literary heartland.
Owning and running Craigmount has been our dream, from coming here on holiday and falling in love with the town, and now becoming part of the regeneration programme, we feel blessed every day, and love introducing people to this hidden gem of South-West Scotland.
As Scotland’s National Book Town, we are proud to be the first literary-themed B&B in Wigtown. This means that visitors to the town can now stay in a literary themed B&B with rooms dedicated to much-loved classic and contemporary books and authors linked to Dumfries & Galloway.
Our four guest rooms have been beautifully furnished and decorated to celebrate J M Barrie’s Peter Pan, Gavin Maxwell’s Ring of Bright Water, Ian Niall’s (John McNeillie) classic A Galloway Childhood, and the contemporary writings of Wigtown’s own Shaun Bythell.
Of course, we had to incorporate JM Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan’, and as this is a 200-year-old house, we went back to the original book which was written in 1911. ‘Peter and Wendy’ is a large family room and features a beautiful old chest like a pirate chest, hidden pixie dust, marbles, thimble kisses and things like that. Very much Peter and Wendy.
Whilst our ‘Ring of Bright Water’ room is named after Gavin Maxwell’s book which is based on his life on the coast of Wigtownshire. In the future, we also plan to run events and activities linked to the books and authors, including dinner and drinks with Shaun – writer of the best-selling Diary of a Bookseller, Confessions of a Bookseller and Seven Types of People You Find in a Bookshop and have guided tours of his shop, the largest of its kind in Scotland.
Shaun has been very supportive of Craigmount and said: “The idea of a literary-themed B&B is tremendous and really adds to Wigtown’s strength as Scotland’s National Book Town. And obviously for me it’s a huge privilege that Nicole and Malcolm have dedicated one of the rooms to my work – what I hope that will do is help put an emphasis on all the bookshops in Wigtown and what a joyous place they are to visit and spend time browsing.” There will also be wildlife tours with countryman and conservationist Martin Webber, whose own life was strongly influenced by McNeillie’s writing. Other planned activities include farm visits, Peter Pan treasure hunts and more.
But aside from being known as a literary themed B&B and our role in Scotland’s Book Town, Malcolm and I are also passionate about supporting the local economy and showcasing our quality local food and products as much as we possibly can. Almost everything about Craigmount is linked to the local community - indeed our free-range eggs come from one of the youngest suppliers around, 10-year-old free range chicken keeper Olly McKay, whose own Galloway childhood is spent in the open air on his family’s Kirkinner Farm where he has 40 free range hens and also breeds peacocks and two Valais Blacknose sheep called Eddie and Gina.
As Olly himself says: “I love looking after the hens and the sheep and taking them to shows. And when I grow up I might become a farmer myself.” This has echoes of McNeillie, who was born in Old Kilpatrick in 1916, and what he described in A Galloway Childhood as “the happiest days of my life”.
We also get our meat from our local fourth generation butcher and we have pictures on the walls from locally based artists Emily Nash and Kevan McGinty. Much of the furniture and even the bed throws have been specially designed, often from upcycled materials, by Ada Montgomery of Moonbeams and Magic and Allsorts.
Dumfries and Galloway is a wonderful place, with a highly distinctive character and beauty that has inspired a multitude of great stories from some of the very finest writers across hundreds of years.
As well as being famous as a literary hotspot in Scotland, we attract families, walkers, cyclists, people looking up their family tree, people from the US, Canada and Australia. There’s just so much to explore here.
We are proud to have brought all of these elements together and have created a bed and breakfast that will further add to the visitor appeal of Scotland’s National Book Town.
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10 Ballifeary Road,Inverness,
IV3 5PJ
07920 404 163
info@beourguestscotland.co.uk