The Art & Architecture of OLD GLASGOW BANKS

In many ways I could have named this video 'Old Glasgow Banks Have Gone'. But while in most cases the banks have indeed gone, the buildings that they once occupied, and which were designed specifically for them, are still with us.

To look at many of these buildings you would never know they were once banks, whether branches or head offices, but their style and beauty add immeasurably to how Glasgow looks today; a city with a Victorian architectural elegance renowned the world over.

I spent two days roaming across Glasgow filming bank buildings. It was a Herculean task that brought many rewards. For I was blown over by the number of these stunning structures that still stand. It was like street art taken to a whole new level. I also found it a little sad that almost all of these buildings were no longer banks.

It's a simple fact, but banks are disappearing from our High Streets at a heck of a rate. I know of two in Glasgow's Sauchiehall Street: one closed recently, the other will close in a few months. Indeed, I intended to finish the video at a bank building in Govan that was open the last time I looked, but in fact this bank has also closed. I suppose it's a changing world where cash will soon be redundant and there will be no need for banks to have a presence in our towns and cities.

Many of these grand buildings, built when Glasgow was Second City of the British Empire and life was grand, were designed by famous architects and sculptors. Their work is so stunning that the buildings would rival any Royal palace, both inside and out. Often, the stone sculpture on the facades of these buildings would not look out of place on the floor of the world's finest museums and galleries. These buildings are special.

Banks in the old days wanted to make an impression - like most busineses I suppose. They wanted to look so good and impress potential customers so that your money was deposited with them, and not the bank on the other street corner.

Because that's the other thing about banks long ago, they were a bit like pubs, in that in some areas they did indeed occupy almost every street corner.

Many of these wonderful structures now lie empty and abandoned.

Yet they're still there, on many street corners and the bits between; the sort of buildings that make Glasgow Glasgow; the sort of buildings that you only have to look at to know what this city is all about. Glasgow.