Dingwall bookshop aims for the stars

DINGWALL bookshop proprietor Bill Anderson is reaching new heights with the latest addition to his stock.

For banking towards customers as they enter High Flight is a very large model of the famous supersonic jet Concorde.

The 7ft 6ins model of the passenger airliner is suspended from the ceiling of Bill’s High Street bookshop which specialises in aviation - and it’s got a bit of history.

Back in 1970 Concorde was hitting the headlines for its beautiful lines, its futuristic look and its stupendous speed.

At that time the Methodist Church in Carlton, Nottingham, was seeking to raise funds for renovation and a church member Peter Godfrey offered to build a model of Concorde to draw attention to the campaign.

Peter spent nearly a year making a substantial model of wood and plaster, getting the correct scale by shining a photographic slide on the wall and measuring the image.

Peter kept the model afterwards and 47 years later took the decision to find another home for it.

Bill said: "Peter was pleased that it should be taken up by someone who could and would display it to its best advantage."

Bill has an abiding interest in flight and can be spotted high above the Cairngorms in a glider when the weather suits.

In his shop are thousands of antiquarian and second-hand books. Filling the aviation section are books on gliding, bombers, novels, the Battle of Britain and Biggles, thin picture books and gigantic Jane’s guides, and of course books on Concorde herself.

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