Photography following the route of the Forth and Clyde Canal as it winds through Maryhill in Glasgow. This series of images goes back to an image titled ‘Another Day, Another Night’ taken in the woodside social club which was a finalist image winning the social documentary category of a photography competition run by Glasgow Institute of Architects in 2009. I was living in this area at the time and enjoyed living in Maryhill near to the canal locks – an inspiring landscape that seemed to capture the achievements of Victorian Glasgow, but as with other parts of the city had fallen on hard times as industry declined. Over the last 15 years change has been slowly taking place with new housing along the canal, and improved access to the waterside route for walkers and cyclists, connecting the area, and enhancing wellbeing with connection to nature.
Traditional tenement housing provides a good model for new housing to emulate. Over a third of high rise housing has been demolished in Glasgow in recent years, however where possible existing housing should be adapted or retrofitted to reduce impact environmentally. Difficult decisions need to be made regarding how to maintain buildings reaching the end of their life and clearly buildings need to be built to last more than 50 years. Cedar Court by Collective Architecture is a successful example of high rise housing that has been retrofitted to reduce emissions and upgrade the buildings whereas in 2025 tower blocks were demolished with a view to a large transformation of the Wyndford Estate by Wheatley Housing which promises a new future and vision for the area.
