A MAN who grew up in Springburn has had his first book published – with three more in the pipeline.
Raymond Moore, who was brought up in Galloway Street, was 13 when he moved away from the area.
His granny was originally from the Isle of Skye and he would visit her and his great aunt during the summer holidays.
The 57-year-old said: “From a very young age, I grew to love Skye and these vacations were the highlight of my year.
“Prior to the school summer holiday of 1977, someone tried to steal my bike whilst I was cycling in Springburn Park. A scuffle ensued and I escaped still in possession of my bike.
“But I later found out that one of the bike stealers and his brother went to the same school as me and realised that I might be the target of some bullying.
“Whilst on my summer holidays in Linicro, I thought about asking my great aunt Margaret if I could stay and go to school in Portree.
“I thought this would be preferable than going back to Glasgow, where I may get bullied. She agreed and with the blessing of my parents, I spent the next five years at Portree High School.
“I have always been very thankful to the potential bike thieves for giving me the correct motivation.”
Despite the near theft experience, Raymond says all of his memories of Springburn are happy. His parents and siblings remained in Galloway Street until the late 1980s so he would visit regularly.
He said: “I was lucky to live in Springburn when it was a thriving community before the bypass cut the place in half and destroyed the bustling shopping area of Springburn Road.
“My memories of Woolworths and Cameron’s Toy Shop are all happy. Living in Galloway Street was also great fun and I have nothing but good memories from that time.”
Raymond, who is now a nurse in Saudi Arabia, has published his first book called Skye Stories Volume 1: The Linicro Years, which is a collection of stories and poems about living in Linicro and how Skye changed the trajectory of his life.
The first volume begins before the school summer holidays of 1977 in Springburn, and the book was completed in May last year while Raymond was in quarantine after catching Covid-19.
He added: “Luckily I suffered no ill effects and view the whole experience as being positive as it spurred me on to write.
“I always believed I had an interesting story to tell. Leaving the city as a young teen and not returning till I was a young man.
“Living in a remote area with no TV meant that I had to find ways to amuse myself and frequently got up to a lot of nonsense. The change in my attitude towards my education was dramatic. School had always seemed like a chore and not particularly fun, but that changed at Portree.”
Volume two of the book will be published in June, with volume three being published later on in the year.
Raymond is also working on his first novel, which he hopes will also be published.
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