I saw Sir Walter Scott's monumental facelift from an 80ft height

I'm staring down on Glasgow with the towering figure of Sir Walter Scott by my side.

Perched atop an 80ft-high pillar, this monument to one of Scotland's greatest authors has been a George Square resident for nearly 200 years.

It remains impressive. Imposing. Imperious.

But the years have not been kind to it.

So now restoration work is to be carried out on the statue, along with the other monuments and plinths in George Square, and BBC Scotland got a sneak preview.

Sir Walter's statue was installed outside the City Chambers in the 1830s, and for the last two centuries his only companions have been pigeons.

A rare, close-up view shows decades of congealed dropping - only recently washed away - have bleached the top of Sir Walter's head.

His plaid is covered with moss. A bushy green plant grows out of the crook of his arm, as though he's carrying it home from the shops.

The wind and rain have taken their toll too, carving away at the great author. Chunks of sandstone are missing from the plinth.

But beneath the plant life and the grime, Sir Walter is in good shape. His face has almost been left untouched. His expression - kindly and concerned - is impressively lifelike.

From the wrinkles in his trousers at the back of his knees to the tartan pattern on his plaid, every detail is evocatively rendered.

It's especially impressive when you remember that the sculptors who carved Sir Walter had never seen a zoom lens or heard of a drone.

They had no reason to expect anyone would ever see their work again after it was mounted on its 80ft column back in 1837.

The Glasgow that Sir Walter Scott looks down on has changed dramatically since then. But he has remained in place, stony and stoic.

Hopefully, thanks to the work going on in George Square today, he will be able to watch another two centuries of life in the city.