Let me paint you a picture. As one of my things in life is paint manufacture, I am sure you will indulge me a little illustration. Here is a little story to get us in the mood for the rant that follows….
Far, far away a small, very small woman bustled up the street. She was clutching a brown package and forging forwards with purpose. The wind, rain and flecks of snow were not going to stop her. She had a book to deliver to old Mr McKye who couldn’t possibly get into the shop after a bout of pneumonia and definitely not in this weather.
Ailith didn’t consider her seventy-two years as old but despite this view of her relative youth, she had already planned her exit from this world when the time was right. I will say no more than, it includes Bollinger and Moors. However, she hoped that this option was a long way off and at this moment the delivery to Mr McKye was far more important. Ailith had reached the door of Sunshine Court, a name which always made her smile wryly as the Glens were not often that sunny, but she didn’t have long to linger. She had no one to cover her in the shop anymore whilst she was away. Still, Mr McKye was still part of her book group and he needed the next tome so he could at least discuss it with her when she next visits. Even if he couldn’t physically make it to group, it was her job to get it to him.
Back in the shop ten minutes later, our intrepid book seller was feeling warm from the greeting she had received whilst delivering ‘Daisy Darker’. She wasn’t so warm from the low temperature in the shop and elected to leave her scarf wrapped snuggly around her neck. Sipping on the coffee poured from her flask made at home on the Range early this morning, she looked out of the window hoping there would eventually be some sunshine which would mean she could turn the lights off for a few hours. “Would the shop and her magic books survive this winter?” she pondered. Sadly, even if she had access to them, open fires and candles were not a great mix for the paper around her and the electricity was something only the very rich could afford.
She puffed out her irritation, “This wasn’t the 1920’s, she wasn’t living through the ‘Great Depression’ or was it?”
At least there hadn’t been the power cuts of the Seventies, yet. Still, if you could hardly switch the lights on and only have enough heating on to keep the books from going mouldy, power cuts weren’t such a big leap, we could conclude. Her neighbours were closing their shops forever, they had lost the will to fight yet another battle. Her face scrunched up even though no one could see her, “I may not be able to pop into the local baker anymore but I am not giving up just yet.”
The people, her friends, her neighbours, the children were too important. They need stories to give them hope and escape, she couldn’t let them down now. And anyway, she cares and she knows that the bookshop is a central place for people, lonely people, people craving an answer, people sharing stories, people needing a hopeful face. They need “Hello, it’s so lovely to see you – did you enjoy the last book?” She needs “Ailith, it’s great to see you. You don’t know how much that last story made a difference to me.”
Ailith sighed, sipped and dug deep into her pot of hope.
My story is defintiely a story (names are made up) but it is based on a very real shop, a very real ‘Ailith’ and a very real community. The community is a small town, on the edge of the Cairngorms and which provides a centre for the small hamlets and villages of the Spey Valley. The High Street is mainly small independent shops and includes the very wonderful bookshop which is owned and run by an incredible woman (not that she would acknowledge that).
I first encountered ‘Ailith’ earlier this year when, on a visit to Scotland, I was ‘bagging’ some independent bookshops listed in ‘Bookshop Tours of Britain’ by Louise Boland. I had been coming up to this part of Scotland for many years as my Aunt, now very elderly Aunt, had moved to the ‘Highest Village in the Highlands’ Tomintoul, in 2004. I visit to help her along now. I don’t know why I hadn’t been in to this book lover’s haven before but after that first visit, I was hooked.
I think ‘Ailith’ and her wonderful shop are special but the plight I found her and her fellow shop keepers in when I popped in this week is, sadly, not that unusual but very worrying. I don’t want to pick on this bookshop as failing, it most DEFINITELY isn’t! ‘Ailith’ has plans! However, the plight of these amazing independent shops is looking grim. ‘Ailith’s’ shoulders sagged somewhat as she she explained that she hadn’t been back in touch to an e mail I had sent her the previous week because she had been totally focused on her new electricity bill which had initially come in at £15,000 for the year. It had risen from well under £4000 and she was clearly rattled. I would be, wouldn’t you? She had worked on getting a lower quote but it was still in five figures when I left.
I help run a family owned manufacturing business which makes paint (remember I asked for your indulgence to paint a picture), so I really feel the pain of these retail outlets. We are like my friends in retail, at the mercy of a landlord, and so we can’t take the steps that our ‘wise’ Government Ministers tell us we should. It is not within our power to insulate buildings, change structures, put ground source heat pumps in etc. We rely on our landlords to do these things and in many cases they either can’t afford it, won’t afford it and won’t let us do things even if we had the money.
What we need to remember is that all of these local business are so much more than what they sell. They are the glue that holds communities together. They worry when Mrs Smith hasn’t been in for a few days, they make sure young Sara learns about how to add up and use money, they make sure we have pans to cook in when we have a gathering, they bring us news, they allow us to share stories, they make sure we all care about each other.
Bookshops were one of the first retail units not deemed ‘essential’ to open after the lockdowns because they had proved to be so important to people. We can’t let this oh so valuable resource to be lost to us now. This coming winter will see many put into crisis point AGAIN. Many small business still have debts (Bounce Back Loans etc) from the pandemic and they may decide enough is enough. Don’t forget we have also had BREXIT, the Panama Canal Blockage and the war in Ukraine – I am sure you haven’t but just in case, I thought I would remind you.
Please don’t let your ‘Ailith’ go as they are not only shop keepers but keepers of our stories, points of reference for our knowledge and people who care for others in their communities. We need them to be brave and keep the faith too so don’t let them lose confidence and please ask them how you can help.
Note: I am sure that some of you will be able to work out who the real ‘Ailith’ is but I didn’t want to embarrass her or do her business any damage. If you have worked it out, I would like to stress that her shop is still thriving and the Festivals she has planned for the Autumn are going ahead but we need to support her and others like her or they won’t be here into the future.