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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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