The back of the shops

Tullibody, Scotland

I'm not sure what it was but this shot by Andy the other day piqued my interest and I was dead keen to do the same with our own wee local shopping centre.

These have been here for over forty years now and have served the local community's changing shopping needs well throughout that period. There are a few that have weathered this time better than others and are still plying the same trade as they did back in 1967, but others have come and gone as times changed; the pool room that I spent too many ten pence pieces playing Space Invaders and Galaxians in near the middle of this shot has long passed, and there are more than our fair share of pharmacies occupying the centre now (something to do with a heightened local demand for methadone and other prescription drugs perhaps).

I still head down here for my haircuts, square sausage and a few other bits and pieces, but having a half dozen or so massive stores and retail parks within five minutes drive means that the place sees a lot less bustle than it did. And for a while there local yoof hanging around the place and pestering anybody and everybody to buy them two litres of cider on any given evening meant it was a bit of an intimidating place to wander after dark. So the council stuck two big CCTV cameras at either end to make it all better.

I'm pretty sure there are, like Andy's Grangemouth that inspired this, identical looking and functioning buildings all over the planet. I've shown you mine and I'd be really interested to see the back of yours...