Food town? Everywhere's shut on Sunday

Part 2 of our wedding anniversary weekend write-up.

We'd seen in tourist brochures that Castle Douglas is a "food town". Great, we thought as we left the B&B this morning, we'll go there on the way back for a spot of lunch, and buy something to take home for supper.

There's just one problem.

It's Sunday. And that means just about all the small local food shops in Castle Douglas are shut.

Bang went our beautiful plans.

We managed to find an open cafe, and Matt said their coffee was wonderful, but the menu looked very Greasy Spoon, which put us off eating there (not to mention the howling child at the next table).

Now I can understand the religious view of not wanting to open shops on a Sunday. I can understand wanting a day off.

But if Castle Douglas - and other towns like it - want to attract the tourist trade, then Sunday opening might be something that it has to embrace, at least in part.

After all, not everyone who goes to South West Scotland will stay a whole week and be able to stock up for Sunday. There will be weekenders like Matt and myself. Castle Douglas is less than an hour off the M6. It's not the back of beyond.

And it's also just off the main A75 to Stranraer and the ferry terminal. There will surely be tourists coming off the ferry at Stranraer and heading along the A75 and looking for somewhere to have lunch, or buy a picnic lunch. And for the latter, our only option would have been Tesco.

If the shopkeepers of Castle Douglas want to promote "buy local food from small local shops" then keeping their shops shut on a Sunday may not be the way to do it...