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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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)

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