The Glaswegian - Dec '05

'Beyond the Cities'

By Lorna Caiten

A former award-winning BBC cameraman is hoping to attract more tourists to Glasgow with his own insight of the city and its boundaries.

Ex-Londoner Douglas Campbell, now based near Lennoxtown, worked as a BBC staff member for eight years before turning his hand to freelance work.

However, at the start of this year, work began to slow down and his wife Sabrina and guests at his B&B in Campsie Glen inspired him to promote Glasgow through his own film.

He said: "We found that people coming to our B&B didn't want to come to Glasgow, despite it only being a few miles away. Instead they headed off to Edinburgh and the Highlands. We thought this was terrible. One of the unique things about Glasgow is one minute you're in suburbia and five minutes later you're more or less out of the city and into the wilderness. Where else can you do that? I have lived up here for 20 years and have done a lot of filming around Glasgow, so I had an idea of what I wanted to do".

His self-financed DVD called 'Beyond the Cities' took 12 days to film, and shows off impressive architecture including the Glasgow School of Art and the Gallery of Modern Art. It also covers west coast towns such as Weyss Bay and Rothesay - thanks to assistance from Argyll and Bute Tourist Board - and visits Nick Nairns Cook School at Lake of Menteith in the Trossachs.

Douglas said: "Sometimes it takes someone from another city to sing an area's praises. People who live here sometimes take things for granted and you need a pair of fresh eyes to see things differently".

Douglas currently sells his DVD on his website and is in negotiations with the city council to access the film on www.seeglasgow.com. The website's live Glasgow TV airs to more than 85 countries across the world. Until this is finalised, the DVD can be purchased on his companys website (Handheld Productions Ltd) and various outlets across the the city.

Douglas have plans to make a similar DVD of Edinburgh and its surrounding areas.

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