The romantic Pollphail "ghost village" is a memorial to the clamour of the UK's 1970’s oil boom at a time when the industry was considered cutting edge and essential, a time before the world began to seek cleaner and more sustainable forms of energy in the 21st century. Pollphaill speaks to us of the ideals and ambitions of a changing modern world.
Purpose-built in the untouched wilds of Scotland’s Argyll coast to house a labour force of five hundred, the facility was completed but never commissioned as the site proved unsuitable for oil rig construction. Over the next forty years it gradually fell into disrepair and desolation. Forlorn and eerie, beautiful in its derelict state, the ghost village lay abandoned and haunted as the money moved elsewhere.
In 2009, the "Agents of Change" graffiti artists were invited into the site to paint the abandoned structures, the bold work they integrated into the site adding a further layer to the story.
Forty years after its construction, the images portray just how fragile man’s control over the environment is as nature begins to reclaim and transform the site in an entwined and powerful dance.
The facility was finally demolished in 2017 to make way for an extension to the marina and spa complex of the Portavadie tourism facility, a further metaphor in how our world changes to meet the whims of the times. This project was completed over 2 years prior to the demolition.

Exhibited at Head On Photo Festival, Sydney 2016