A thriving market and a cafe society made town an obvious choice, writes Ken Mann

Joined-up thinking isn’t always connected with consuming a few pints of a local craft beer – but it is in Castle Douglas. It has always boasted a good stock of suppliers of ingredients and produce alongside places to eat, so when Dumfries and Galloway decided to create a series of themed towns, Castle Douglas was an obvious choice for the food label, if you’ll pardon the pun.

Michelle Robertson is secretary of the town’s Development Forum. She explains:  “At the time when the Council decided that they were going to have a Food Town, an Artists’ Town and a Book Town, we had five butchers, three bakers and we had all the cafés. So it was obvious we would be Food Town.”

Nestling between the Galloway hills and forests to the north and the sweeping beaches of the Solway Firth to the south, the historic market town has always been at the heart of local agricultural and commercial life. Livestock markets are still held every week, attracting discerning buyers and breeders from around the world.

Among the food on offer is Robertson’s own venture, Scottish Pantry (“We are number one on Trip Advisor for Castle Douglas and cafés,” she enthuses) but she has always believed that having a wealth of other quality niche shops, particularly in an around the main thoroughfare of King Street, proves a hit with visitors and locals alike.

“We’ve tried to change it slightly over the years,” she says. “Because, being just a Food Town, trying to market that, is a bit like leaving out all the other independents. So we have also tried to develop it as a shopping destination. We have a lot of independent boutiques who support the town.

“We have the Forum and under that title we have Food Town and civic events, with the same committee, linking all the community organisations together.”

Unusually for a town retailing centre, Castle Douglas has another economic boast, as Robertson is keen to point out. “We only have one free space on King Street for a shop. As soon as a shop comes up, it’s gone.” 

Most Scottish towns, post the worst of recession, are still struggling to fill their retailing spaces, causing sometimes unsightly frontages and giving civic pride a dent into the bargain. Not in Castle Douglas though.

And this obvious economic vibrancy is what drew a new craft brewery into the area. The town’s food theme and the variety of quality producers and retailers persuaded Jim Henderson, founder of Sulwath Brewers, to relocate from its original home in Southerness on the coast.

Henderson, now general manager/consultant with his son Allan managing director, enjoys showing visitors around the larger premises on tours. When describing his own path into brewing, he jokes: “I always say to people who come on the grand tour, it’s my mother-in-law who drove me to drink!” Visiting hop farmers in Hereford, who were related to  his late wife’s mother, planted the seed of an idea that wouldn’t be realised for decades – after, in fact, after he retired from his job as a bank manager. The family-oriented experience of being in a pub with good food in the south of England made him certain that the typical “man’s world” Scottish pub of the time, with sawdust on the floor and a choice of perhaps two lagers, could do with a rethink.

“In a moment of bravado I said to my new wife, one day we’ll do that,” Henderson says. And years later he did. Today, its five employees produce a selection of craft-brewed tasty thirst quenchers. “It’s been good for the public – there’s a lot more to life than mainstream beers,” he insists.

Output fluctuates with the season of the year. “We’re talking about 1,000 to 1,500 gallons a week,” he says. “During the summer we brew five days a week; 300 gallons per brew.”

And the key advantage of being located in Castle Douglas? “As a brewery tap, we also sell good food. It is a wonderful area in which to live and work.”