I’ve got a bit of a thing about windows, especially old ones which are a bit neglected and unloved. Spotting them has become a bit of an obsession for me. Gibraltar has a fair few to choose from but for those of you not familiar Rock, please do not think it’s a place full of derelict buildings – it’s not, but new shiny developments don’t really excite me the way old romantic ones do.  

 I like to take off for exploratory walks far from the madding crowd. Despite the fact we have lived here for 6 1/2 years and even though it’s a very small place in the scheme of things, Gibraltar is full of nooks and crannies waiting to be uncovered. This empty building was tucked away up an alleyway I explored for the first time when I was climbing those steps two weeks ago! 

  It was these windows (below) which sparked my interest and set me off snapping photos of sad sashes and shutters, there’s just something about them. Or is it just me? Perhaps it’s because where I come from, on the whole the beauty of crafted wooden windows has been replaced by bland white uPVC double glazing :-(.

  If these walls and windows could talk, what interesting tales would they tell? Just think of the people who have gazed out of these windows and seen the Gibraltar of years gone by. Are they even still alive? 

 This building (above) is slap bang in the centre of town just off Main Street and adjacent to a smart new urban park. How has this prime location escaped the redevelopers?  These ones are too:

  Don’t you think some of these would make a great subject for a painting?  

 Just makes you wonder what’s inside those windows too. Is there a gold mine of architectural treasures just waiting to be brought back to life and be appreciated again?  

Shutters have become a bit of an obsession for me lately. Two pairs of shutters on our home, which were in a hard to reach place (and therefore haven’t been painted for a while) were in need of a bit of tlc.

I got my sander out and had a field day getting all the loose paint off them – it was great fun. How much fun it would be if there were more than just 2 pairs, I’m not too sure. Look at them, in all their undercoated glory!  

 It took a week for me to undercoat them with multiple interruptions from younger members of the family. I can quite understand why people replace wooden shutters with the aluminum alternatives but crikey, when they have a fresh coat of gloss on them, they’re majestic! 

  
Which brings me onto my final photo, the ghosts of shutters long departed….  

 There had just been a torrential rain shower before I took this picture, so how long the marks have been on that wall I have no idea, nor how long they will remain there. Gone but not forgotten.