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.

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

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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