The Sands Of Troon.

Scotland has some great beaches, if it only had the weather to go with them.

Troon in Aryshire, has miles of beach and last Sunday all sorts of things were happening.
Dog walkers, strollers, picnickers and kite flyers to mention but a few. There are also some lovely old sea front houses which must have great views over the Irish Sea.

Now here comes the moan....... I spotted a raft like device which had obviously taken great effort to build and transport onto the beach for whatever reason. It was now totally unseaworthy, abandoned and a terrible eyesore. The blue barrel's were heavy duty polypropylene and according to technical specification, will not degrade by any significance for at least two hundred years. So that's alright then!

On a lighter note, at the end of the harbour road, there is MacCallum's, now this has to be the best fish and chip shop ever.

Promotional Photos.

Over the years I have done loads of studio sets for people of all ages who are looking to get into acting, modeling, hairdressing or any other industry which requires a portfolio of photos for self promotion.

There is an old saying in this game, "the camera loves you", OK, I know it's a bit hackneyed but it's none the less true. Young Stephanie here had never been in a studio before.

She was great and I'll be surprised if she doesn't get snapped up by one of the agencies.

Charge Of The Light Brigade, Well Maybe Not!

Following on from my last post, I knew I had a shot of a heavy horse race somewhere in the archive.

Sure enough, back in 1984 at the annual "Marymass" in Irvine, my attention was drawn to a race card featuring the "Robert McGill Heavy Carthorse Handicap". Now this was a serious business with plenty of side bets on the go.

I was amazed at the speed of the horses considering their size and had to get out of the way quickly after taking this shot.

If I had tried taking the same shot on a proper race course, I would have been out on my ear. Click the link and you'll find a great bit of footage from the festival of 1931.

Heavy Horse.

I remember heavy horses were very common when I was a wee boy. Nowadays, they are rarely seen.

I spotted this beauty in a field in Ayrshire and he was really fond of Polo Mints.

Is That Spring In The Air ?

I went for a walk in the West End of Glasgow on Sunday and there was a really happy atmosphere everywhere.

The sun was out and the temperature was (let's not get to excited) warmer than we've been used to over the past few months.

Couples were a courting and yes there are actually web sites on the subject in case any of you canny court. This one is a hoot.


Byres Road was jammed and all the cafes and bars were doing great business. I kind of feel sorry for the staff at the BBC who no longer have all this on their doorstep as they have re located to new state of the art premises on the south side of the river Clyde.

Let's hope it's a sign of things to come after all the recent arctic conditions.

Bygone Days.

I remember in the 70's that it was "old hat" to look quite crazy and loads of people seemed happy enough wandering around with big hair.

It was never for me but I did do the flared trousers.


My late father was a doctor and couldn't understand why all the surplus material was at the part of the trouser where the leg least needed it. I couldn't print what he had to say about hairstyles of the same period.

I spotted this guy in Glasgow on Saturday and being that older geezer now, found myself going back down memory lane.

He was a really nice guy and was out for lunch with his mum.

Falling And Laughing.

That's what happened last night, well maybe not the falling bit but we had a laugh listening to Grace and Edwyn at the paperback launch of her book entitled Falling and Laughing written about the remarkable recovery of Edwyn Collins since his stroke five years ago.








Edwyn played a great set to a packed auditorium at the Mitchell Library which hosts the annual "Aye Right" book festival in Glasgow.









It's a very emotive read, deadly serious in parts, very funny in others.

Big Softie.

You know that feeling of being watched that we all get from time to time, well yesterday when I was putting some fuel in the tank, it was my turn.

Just behind me was this ferocious looking boy but he was only keeping a look out for his owner who told me he was a Neapolitan Mastiff. This breed of dog hails from Italy.

Here I was in Clydebank getting to meet one for the first time and he was a big softie.


It's a strange life right enough.