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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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