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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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