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.

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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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