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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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