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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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)

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