RARE images taken by a late photographer of Greenock as it was 40 years ago will be showcased in a new exhibition.

The work of Alexander Kennedy, who died in July last year, was gifted to the McLean Museum by his family following his death last year.

The skilled craftsman spent many hours capturing the town in the late 60s and 70s when it was on the cusp of huge change.

As the bulldozers moved in to clear and tear down old buildings, the photographer made a record that would last forever. Now in a painstaking labour of love Inverclyde Heritage Network's Chris Bradley has taken the 900-odd photographs and spent hours restoring them to create a slide show for the exhibition.

Chris, who is a West College Scotland lecturer, said: "They are the most incredible photographs.

"At that time Greenock was undergoing so much change.

"All these buildings were to be demolished and he recognised this.

"They are incredible to go through and we wanted to share them with the public.

"It was very hard to pick 20 or so to be turned into prints for the exhibition.

"A particular favourite of mine is a photograph of a ship in Kincaid's, taken from Ardgowan Street.

"The photographs are taken at a quiet time, maybe a Sunday morning, when there are very few people about, so the focus is on the buildings."

Alexander Kennedy was born in 1947, spending his early years in Charles Street before moving to John Street in the town centre.

He was an armature-winder by trade and took the photographs as a hobby over a period of ten years.

In his later years he was a committed member of the Arts Guild and later the Beacon Arts Centre, working on mainly props for the panto.

In his last years Alexander lived in Shore Road in Skelmorlie and he died in July 2018.

When his family were clearing out his home they found the photographs and donate them to the McLean.

The photographs show much of the Greenock central area including High Street, Charles Street, Ann Street and ‘Chinatown’ as well as the Glen district of Port Glasgow.

Others places featured in the exhibition include Battery Park, Captain Street and many more.

Volunteers from the Inverclyde Network Heritage have put together the exhibition on a tiny budget, using a grant to create carbon-neutral USB sticks containing copies of the images.

These will be available to purchase, with proceeds going to the Inverclyde Heritage Network.

The Kennedy Photograph Collection Exhibition runs in the D McGilp Pop Up shop, Kempock Street from today until Friday and will be open from 10am to 4pm.