Would you risk everything to follow your dream? That’s exactly what Joyce and Ian did when they took over The Old Bank Book Shop. This is their story.
Have you ever felt like risking it all and following your dream? Many of us have had this desire, but most people don’t actually go through with it. Joyce Cochrane and her partner Ian did things a little differently – they decided to gamble the stable lives they’d built for themselves, and follow their hearts, opening up a bookshop in Scotland’s National Book Town.
This is their story – and it’s certainly an inspiring one.
The Beginnings of The Old Bank Book Shop
By the early 2000s, it appeared the race was run for The Old Bank Book Shop. The shop – located in Wigtown, in Scotland’s Dumfries and Galloway – had been stripped, the building earmarked for a new development of flats. But when Joyce Cochrane and her partner Ian arrived in the town in the early 2000s, they saw its potential and decided to give it a new lease of life.
After visiting family in nearby Newton Stewart, Ian had confided in Joyce that he dreamed of leaving his job in Edinburgh and running a bookshop in Wigtown. To his surprise, Joyce agreed. Neither knew then that Joyce was pregnant. “I think the ‘happy hormones’ made me agree,” she later said.
A Proud Literary History in Wigtown
While Joyce and Ian were certainly taking a leap into the unknown, leaving stable jobs in the capital for a new adventure, they were buying into a proud literary tradition. Ian’s dream wasn’t just based on his love for the Wigtown area – it was built upon a thriving bookshop scene that had grown up in the region.
Wigtown had long been home to some of the country’s most celebrated bookshops. A little like Hay-on-Wye, far to the south in England, Wigtown is famous as a booklover’s paradise. In 1998, it even became Scotland’s National Book Town, and these days it hosts the annual Spring Weekend festival, as well as other events throughout the year. Joyce and Ian were becoming part of this tradition.
Taking a Huge Risk for a Love of Literature
Joyce and Ian didn’t just talk about their dream. They made it happen. They left their jobs, they headed west, and they took over The Old Bank Book Shop building in Wigtown. They had no stock to sell, and nowhere to live other than the shop itself. They also had no experience in the retail industry, and they didn’t even have any shelves from which to sell the books they hoped to bring in. And, of course, Joyce was also pregnant. The odds were stacked against the couple, but they’d committed to their plan – they were going to do whatever it took to make this work.
In 2004, The Old Bank Book Shop opened its doors once again, and new owners Joyce and Ian were ready to add their own narrative thread to the flourishing story of Scotland’s National Book Town. Baby Helena was born soon after – Wigtown’s first bookshop baby, according to the couple – and Joyce and Ian would chart the growth and development of their own daughter alongside that of their new business.
A Gamble That Paid Off
In September 2024, The Old Bank Book Shop celebrated the 20th anniversary of its current incarnation. This happy event, to be followed shortly after by the 20th birthday of Helena, tells us something important – Joyce and Ian gambled it all, and that gamble paid off. Not only was the store a success, it has become an integral part of this important cornerstone of Scottish literature.
As the Wigtown Festival Company’s Operations Director Anne Barclay says; “Joyce and Ian’s contribution to the festival, to the Book Town, to The Open Book, and now to our new Friends of Book Town scheme, has been incredible.”
Obviously the birth of Helena is the couple’s number one highlight from twenty years of running the bookshop, but there are others too. Hosting festival events – including a children’s tent, featuring alpacas, owls and other animals – is right up there, as well as getting married in 2013. Visits from actor and comedian Dylan Moran, poet and playwright Jackie Kay, and the BBC’s Dengineer Team, are other highpoints along the way. A twenty year anniversary is a huge milestone – here’s to many more to come, as the plucky couple continue their story of literary resilience and bookselling success.
You can pay a visit to The Old Bank Book Shop, Monday to Saturday, between 10:30 am and 5 pm. You’ll find the shop at number 7 on Wigtown’s South Main Street. Or, you can check out their catalog and place your order online.
Join our community of 1.5M readers
Like this story? You’ll love our weekly newsletter.
Thank you for subscribing to the newsletter.
Oops. Something went wrong. Please try again later.