A celebrity re-opening planned for the revamped White Horse bookshop as it springs back to life

Without fuss or fanfare, Marlborough’s White Horse Bookshop, which has served the High Street since 1948, quietly re-opened yesterday (Thursday) after a three and a half week revamp ordered by its new owners.

As Spring sunshine poured through the windows, new manager Angus MacLennan, who has masterminded the new look store now packed with 5,000 more titles in a second floor of books, welcomed old and new customers.

And he told Marlborough News Online: “The reaction as been absolutely amazing, quite fantastic.

“So many people came in and kept saying, ‘Wow, it looks so much better, beautiful and smells wonderful!’  But I had to tell them I can’t always guarantee that will be the case.”

Apart from a couple of days, 47-year-old Mr MacLennan, former manager of Waterstone’s London store in Chelsea, was present throughout the revamp operation.

“It seemed like a life-time but it went remarkably smoothly,” though it took a longer than we thought,” he said.  “That was because the poor carpenters had a bit of a problem because there isn’t a straight line in the building.

“They had to cut out, draw and measure every single piece of wood for the new bookshelves.”

And he revealed that there will be an official re-opening ceremony of the bookshop on the morning of Saturday, April 26, when awarded-winning children’s author Dame Jacqueline Wilson will do the honours.

Dame Jacqueline, born in Bath and now 68, was the British Children’s Laureate for two years until 2007 and for her life-time contribution as a children’s writer she is the UK’s nominee for this year’s biennial international Hans Christian Andersen Award.

The author of a host of bestselling children’s books, she is best known for her Tracy Beaker stories, inaugurated in 1991 and still going with a series of three sequels and four television adaptations.

“We have always had a very large children’s section and will continue to do so,” said Mr MacLennan.  “We will introduce story-time for tiny toddlers in the future and certainly have more children’s events in the bookshop – and hopefully build upon that reputation.”

And he paid tribute to Robert Hiscox, founder president of Hiscox Insurance and a former High Sheriff of Wiltshire, who stepped in with Aldbourne entrepreneur Brian Kingham to buy the bookshop – at the suggestion of Marlborough News Online – when former owner Michael Pooley announced he was selling the listed property.  

“I am very lucky – and so are the people who shop here – that Robert and Brian have taken it open themselves to save the bookshop,” declared Angus.

“I am pretty sure we are unique in the country as an independent bookshop saved from closure in this way at a time when it has been reported that there are now fewer than 1,000 independents in the whole country.

“Certainly on this scale it is an unprecedented event since sadly independent bookshops are being forced to close.”

As Mr Hiscox, a sponsor of Marlborough’s Literary Festival, has said: “No town is worth its salt without a thriving bookshop, yet it is one of the toughest of retail trades to be in. “By buying the shop and employing Angus we have given it a future, but ultimately its success lies in the hands of the reading public of Marlborough.

“With their support, the White Horse Bookshop should be a thriving literary and arts hub at the heart of the community.”