Home
Blog
Films
•••
Voyageuse
The Devil's Plantation
Solid Air
One Life Stand
  • Home
  • Walks
  • Gallery
  • App

some i met

On the streets of Glasgow often I meet people who ask me what and why I’m photographing. Some assume I’m from TV. Others accuse me of terrorist activity. Mostly I listen while they tell me their life stories. Here are some of those people.

Jim busking, Buchanan Street
Guy waiting outside Buchanan Street Subway Station
Seven guys I met on the path to Duncolm
On the way to Duncolm
Man working in a skip
Two men outside bar, Paisley Road West
Feeding the pigeons
Kerry and Mark kiss and make up
At Eglinton Toll
Tommy, Sunny Govan Radio
Ricky’s bling and smoking hand
A young guy looking for directions in Kinning Park
Man collecting bottles to pay council tax
Young visitors to Crookston Castle
Man waving from car, Saltmarket
Young guy dishing out flyers on Govan Road
Young guy at Buchanan Street
Two guys posing for a picture in St Enoch’s Square
Tony McGee, Steeplejack
Frank Mahon – fount of local knowledge at Carmyle Fords
Ricky, Buchanan Street
Two men outside bar, Paisley Road West
Outside Sunny Govan Radio
Jim, Buchanan Street
Andy, George Square
In the subway
Father and daughter
Brian McQuade
Mark smoking outside bar, Paisley Road

my places

Glasgow is where I was born and raised. Sadly all of the places I lived, studied and worked in have been demolished or altered beyond recogition. Never has a city shapeshifted more. (back to top)

The original gatepost at Paisley Road Toll
Entrance to Govan Town Hall, now Film City Glasgow
Govan Cross. Due for redevelopment
Entrance, St Enoch’s Square
Scotland Street School. Where my mother attended in the 1940s
Water Treatment Plant, Seaward Street, Kinning Park
Dougrie Road, Castlemilk
Janitor’s house, Lambhill Street Primary School which I attended in the early 1960s
Ex-Turner and Newall factory, Admiral Street, Kinning Park where my father worked
View from Crookston Castle
Ex Howdens Engineering Works, Scotland Street where my grandmother and mother worked
Building, Milnpark Street, Kinning Park
Harmony Row, Govan
Old light on the Renfrew Street side of the Glasgow Film Theatre
87A Linthaugh Road, where I lived from November 1966 to October 1977
Grand Ole Opry, Paisley Road Toll. Used to be the Birds and Bees disco in the 1960s
St Margaret Mary’s School, Stanley Street. The playground was on the roof
Pillar, Lambhill Street Primary School, Kinning Park
Govan Bus Station, Govan Cross
Admiral Street, Kinning Park
Cambridge Street Car Park
On the way to the Barras
View from Crookston Castle. Taken shortly before demolition
Off Ardencraig Road, Castlemilk. I believe I met Fred West here
Council-sponsored fly-posting sabotage at the Trongate
Old sign off Paisley Road West
The Angel Building, Paisley Road Toll
Ornate gate posts at the Govan Road entrance to Elder Park
Wine Alley, Govan – the Potheid Building
Pollok Community Centre I once – only once – attended Scottish Country Dancing
Donald Dewar statue, Buchanan Street – now on a raised plinth after being vandalised
Glasgow SPT Subway train
Scottish Poetry Garden, Queen’s Park
Stanley Bar, Milnpark Street, Kinning Park
Orkney Street Police Station cells at Wine Alley aka Broomloan Road
Caged CCTV on Shaw Street, Govan
Site of M74 completion in June 2008
Lyceum cinema, Govan. Surreal reproduction of itself on banner
Demolition near Crookston Castle, Brockburn Road, Pollok
Old insignia above ex-TSB bank, now a bookies
Ex Gray, Dunn factory, Stanley Street. I used to beg for broken biscuits outside
Burrell Museum, Pollok Estate
South Rotunda, Govan Road at Paisley Road Toll
Security sign, Seaward Street, Kinning Park

harry’s places

A writer and lay archaeologist, Harry Bell was my inspiration. I followed in his footsteps in search of the many sites mentioned in his book, Glasgow’s Secret Geometry: The City’s Oldest Mystery. (back to top)

Ross Hall
Site of Nether Pollok Castle, Pollok Estate
Bonnyton Mound aka The Devil’s Plantation
Victorian relief of Christ – ‘It is finished!’
Humbie Road
Carron Fords from the Bridge
The top of Tinto Hill – aka – Tintock Top
Boulder marking at Camphill Earthwork
Bonnyton Moor
Dunwan Hill Fort
Carmyle Fords
Renfrew Old Parish Church
Remains of Roman Fort at Antonine Wall
Crookston Castle
Detail of entrance to Provan Hall
Interior, Crookston Castle
View from Crookston Castle
Humbie Road at the Devil’s Plantation
Ringwork in the North Wood, Pollok Estate
Water Tower near Cochno
John Knox Monument, Necropolis
Dumbarton Rock from the path to Duncolm and Loch Humphrey
View from Cathkin Braes
Woodend Loch looking north – now a SSSI
The Craw Stane near Eaglesham
Duncolm Hill
Rutherglen bell tower
Paisley Abbey
Site of Castlemilk House
Monument, Necropolis
Carron Bridge near the Fords
Dumgoyne
Carved tree at the Ringwork, Pollok Estate
Sundial on entrance arch to Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Tombstone, Renfrew Old Parish Church
Gallowflats Mound
Site of Old Cathcart Castle
Broken monument, Necropolis
Tinto Hill seen from Garf Water
Cast iron gravestone, Renfrew
Headless angel, Necropolis
Govan Old Parish Church
Necropolis
Castlehill at sunset
Plastic wrapped boulders at the Ringwork, North Wood, Pollok Estate
Broken statue at the Necropolis
Argyll Stone and St Conval’s Chariot, off the car park at the Normandy Hotel
Boulders at Camphill Earthwork
Provan Hall from the gardens
Ornate chimney stack, Ross Hall
Rutherglen Old Parish Church
View from Necropolis looking south-west
Tombstone, Necropolis
Indents on Bonnyton Mound
Greenside reservoir near Duncolm
Bell Tower, Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Tower, Cathkin Braes at sunset
Seraph, Allen Mausoleum, Necropolis
Stanely Castle
Carron Fords
Monument with Egyptian carvings, Necropolis
View from the Tak Ma Doon Road Car Park
Railway Bridge at Carmyle Fords
Tinto Hill in alignment with Duncolm

old places

Glasgow – the dear green place – has a habit of disappearing. Here are a few of the old places photographed on my travels – some of which have since been demolished. (back to top)

Custom House Bowling
Detail, Corinthian Bar, Ingram Street
Detail, Brunswick Street
Close entrance, 59 Shaw Street, Govan
Detail, Pierce Institute, Govan
MacKinnon’s Bar, Gallowgate
Govan Milestone by Helen Denerley
Sign, Virginia Street
Angel/cherub on tombstone, Govan Old Parish Church
Signs off Tontine Lane, Trongate
Old road sign near Tinto Hill
The Mercat Building, Trongate
Cosmo Chicken Bar, Govan Road
Insignia and motto, Clydebank
Gartloch asylum
Derelict shop, London Road
Detail, ex-British Linen Bank, Govan Road
Statue of James Watt, George Square
Carlton Place
Detail, Christian Association
Detail, Pierce Institute, Govan
Detail, Brunswick Street
Statue of industrialist John Elder, Elderpark
Statue of Lady Elder, Elderpark
City Chambers, George Square
Elderpark Library. Opened by Andrew Carnegie
Christian Association, St Andrew’s Cross
ex-Govan Shipyard, Govan Road
Pierce Institute, Govan
Schipka Pass, off Gallowgate
Val d’Oro chip shop
Detail above entrance to shipyard offices
Detail of derelict building, Govan Road
Laurieston Bar
Detail, ex-Trustee Savings Bank, Govan Road
Disused church, Bowling
Plaque, Trongate
The Castle Bar price list
Govan Road
Mercury’s head, old Glasgow Herald newspaper offices, Buchanan Street

new places

Glasgow is a work-in-progress, not all of it progressive. Gone is the red and blonde sandstone, replaced by brick, glass and steel. (back to top)

Tait’s Tower recreation – it never worked
Glasgow Science Centre
Side street at Glasgow Fort
Utopia, off Pollokshaws Road. Now available for rent
The SMG timeline runs out at 2007
Farmfoods, Silverburn. Earmarked for closure, along with the Gala Bingo and the Credit Union
Rear of News International, Middlesex Street. Conspicuously heavy on security
A new development on Pollokshaws Road
The SMG logo as street furniture, off Pacific Quay
Clyde Auditorium, aka the Armadillo. Generic silver-clad construction now seen in most cities
Clock outside Buchanan Street Bus Station
Digital Media Centre, Pacific Quay. Subsidised offices for TV/Media companies
M74 Completion Roadworks – driving its way through south-side Glasgow communities
Detail of a New Gorbals housing development
New apartments on the Clyde – many now to let
Another New Gorbals housing development
Glasgow Fort Junction 10 off the M8
Shields Rd Subway car park, Scotland Street
Looking north from the Arc Bridge
The Arc aka The Squinty Bridge, Govan Road. Closed for 6 months due to bad construction
Side elevation of the SMG/STV Building, Pacific Quay
A New Gorbals housing development
Silverburn Shopping Centre, Pollok
Sheriff Court
SMG Building, Pacific Quay, Govan Road
New houses at Gartloch Village – alien brick arrives in Scotland
New building in New Gorbals
© 2026 Elemental Films