Gretna Green: Where pop royalty meets wedding royalty
Posted by Ami Brough - June 13, 2013
Over the years we have welcomed people from all around the world to Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop, including a few famous faces (which always causes great excitement here).
Following the release of David Bowie's return to form with his critically-acclaimed new album, 'The Next Day' we've now learned that David Bowie visited Gretna Green in the 1990s!
Jean Duff, one of our long serving employees who now assists part-time with whisky tastings (Her daughter Carolyn Scott is currently Manager of our Whisky Shop) remembers fondly the time the 'Thin White Duke' strolled in to our romantic wedding destination. "It was such a surprise to see Bowie strolling around the grounds before heading inside the Famous Blacksmiths Shop to have a look at the wedding anvil."
After searching for a photo, we unfortunately had to admit defeat when Jean explained that he had politely declined to have his photograph taken by the famous wedding anvil (the curse of the famous of course - he didn't want rumours circulating in the media of a 'run-away' marriage). Of course, he did marry a few months later, to glamorous Somalian model, Iman in a secret ceremony in Lausanne in April 1992.
This got us thinking, and we decided to compile a list of the famous people we remember visiting the Famous Blacksmiths Shop. Over the next few weeks, we'll be revealing these famous names on our blog and on our Facebook and Twitter pages - look out for these.
Does anyone have any personal memories of David Bowie they could share with us? Have you seen a famous person strolling around Gretna Green?