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.

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

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

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

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)

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

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 building in New Gorbals
Looking north from the Arc Bridge
The Arc aka The Squinty Bridge, Govan Road. Closed for 6 months due to bad construction
A new development on Pollokshaws Road
New houses at Gartloch Village – alien brick arrives in Scotland
The SMG logo as street furniture, off Pacific Quay
The SMG timeline runs out at 2007
Side street at Glasgow Fort
A New Gorbals housing development
Silverburn Shopping Centre, Pollok
Rear of News International, Middlesex Street. Conspicuously heavy on security
SMG Building, Pacific Quay, Govan Road
Clyde Auditorium, aka the Armadillo. Generic silver-clad construction now seen in most cities
Shields Rd Subway car park, Scotland Street
Detail of a New Gorbals housing development
Sheriff Court
Tait’s Tower recreation – it never worked
Clock outside Buchanan Street Bus Station
Glasgow Science Centre
Glasgow Fort Junction 10 off the M8
Digital Media Centre, Pacific Quay. Subsidised offices for TV/Media companies
Farmfoods, Silverburn. Earmarked for closure, along with the Gala Bingo and the Credit Union
Side elevation of the SMG/STV Building, Pacific Quay
Utopia, off Pollokshaws Road. Now available for rent
New apartments on the Clyde – many now to let
M74 Completion Roadworks – driving its way through south-side Glasgow communities
Another New Gorbals housing development
© 2025 Elemental Films