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some i met

On the streets of Glasgow often I meet people who ask me what and why I’m photographing. Some assume I’m from TV. Others accuse me of terrorist activity. Mostly I listen while they tell me their life stories. Here are some of those people.

Man collecting bottles to pay council tax
Jim busking, Buchanan Street
Kerry and Mark kiss and make up
Seven guys I met on the path to Duncolm
Mark smoking outside bar, Paisley Road
Andy, George Square
At Eglinton Toll
Guy waiting outside Buchanan Street Subway Station
Jim, Buchanan Street
Young visitors to Crookston Castle
Young guy at Buchanan Street
In the subway
Two men outside bar, Paisley Road West
On the way to Duncolm
Tony McGee, Steeplejack
Man working in a skip
Feeding the pigeons
Man waving from car, Saltmarket
Brian McQuade
Frank Mahon – fount of local knowledge at Carmyle Fords
A young guy looking for directions in Kinning Park
Ricky’s bling and smoking hand
Ricky, Buchanan Street
Tommy, Sunny Govan Radio
Two men outside bar, Paisley Road West
Young guy dishing out flyers on Govan Road
Outside Sunny Govan Radio
Two guys posing for a picture in St Enoch’s Square
Father and daughter

my places

Glasgow is where I was born and raised. Sadly all of the places I lived, studied and worked in have been demolished or altered beyond recogition. Never has a city shapeshifted more. (back to top)

Council-sponsored fly-posting sabotage at the Trongate
Site of M74 completion in June 2008
Security sign, Seaward Street, Kinning Park
Scottish Poetry Garden, Queen’s Park
Burrell Museum, Pollok Estate
Water Treatment Plant, Seaward Street, Kinning Park
Grand Ole Opry, Paisley Road Toll. Used to be the Birds and Bees disco in the 1960s
Donald Dewar statue, Buchanan Street – now on a raised plinth after being vandalised
Old insignia above ex-TSB bank, now a bookies
Ex-Turner and Newall factory, Admiral Street, Kinning Park where my father worked
Old sign off Paisley Road West
Caged CCTV on Shaw Street, Govan
Ex Howdens Engineering Works, Scotland Street where my grandmother and mother worked
Ornate gate posts at the Govan Road entrance to Elder Park
View from Crookston Castle. Taken shortly before demolition
On the way to the Barras
Janitor’s house, Lambhill Street Primary School which I attended in the early 1960s
Glasgow SPT Subway train
South Rotunda, Govan Road at Paisley Road Toll
The Angel Building, Paisley Road Toll
Demolition near Crookston Castle, Brockburn Road, Pollok
Old light on the Renfrew Street side of the Glasgow Film Theatre
Dougrie Road, Castlemilk
Entrance, St Enoch’s Square
Cambridge Street Car Park
The original gatepost at Paisley Road Toll
Entrance to Govan Town Hall, now Film City Glasgow
View from Crookston Castle
Building, Milnpark Street, Kinning Park
Off Ardencraig Road, Castlemilk. I believe I met Fred West here
Orkney Street Police Station cells at Wine Alley aka Broomloan Road
Govan Cross. Due for redevelopment
St Margaret Mary’s School, Stanley Street. The playground was on the roof
Scotland Street School. Where my mother attended in the 1940s
Wine Alley, Govan – the Potheid Building
Lyceum cinema, Govan. Surreal reproduction of itself on banner
Govan Bus Station, Govan Cross
Pollok Community Centre I once – only once – attended Scottish Country Dancing
Admiral Street, Kinning Park
Pillar, Lambhill Street Primary School, Kinning Park
Harmony Row, Govan
Ex Gray, Dunn factory, Stanley Street. I used to beg for broken biscuits outside
87A Linthaugh Road, where I lived from November 1966 to October 1977
Stanley Bar, Milnpark Street, Kinning Park

harry’s places

A writer and lay archaeologist, Harry Bell was my inspiration. I followed in his footsteps in search of the many sites mentioned in his book, Glasgow’s Secret Geometry: The City’s Oldest Mystery. (back to top)

Indents on Bonnyton Mound
Humbie Road
Railway Bridge at Carmyle Fords
Woodend Loch looking north – now a SSSI
Broken monument, Necropolis
Carved tree at the Ringwork, Pollok Estate
Carron Fords from the Bridge
Boulder marking at Camphill Earthwork
Seraph, Allen Mausoleum, Necropolis
View from the Tak Ma Doon Road Car Park
The Craw Stane near Eaglesham
Ross Hall
Castlehill at sunset
Necropolis
Site of Old Cathcart Castle
Site of Castlemilk House
Provan Hall from the gardens
Interior, Crookston Castle
Dunwan Hill Fort
Carron Fords
Detail of entrance to Provan Hall
Cast iron gravestone, Renfrew
Dumgoyne
Duncolm Hill
Ornate chimney stack, Ross Hall
Bell Tower, Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Rutherglen bell tower
Tombstone, Necropolis
Monument, Necropolis
Argyll Stone and St Conval’s Chariot, off the car park at the Normandy Hotel
Gallowflats Mound
Tinto Hill seen from Garf Water
Plastic wrapped boulders at the Ringwork, North Wood, Pollok Estate
Boulders at Camphill Earthwork
Headless angel, Necropolis
Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Broken statue at the Necropolis
Tower, Cathkin Braes at sunset
Renfrew Old Parish Church
View from Cathkin Braes
Tombstone, Renfrew Old Parish Church
Greenside reservoir near Duncolm
Victorian relief of Christ – ‘It is finished!’
Water Tower near Cochno
Remains of Roman Fort at Antonine Wall
View from Crookston Castle
Bonnyton Mound aka The Devil’s Plantation
Sundial on entrance arch to Rutherglen Old Parish Church
Monument with Egyptian carvings, Necropolis
Humbie Road at the Devil’s Plantation
Carron Bridge near the Fords
Tinto Hill in alignment with Duncolm
Govan Old Parish Church
Ringwork in the North Wood, Pollok Estate
Bonnyton Moor
Stanely Castle
Paisley Abbey
View from Necropolis looking south-west
The top of Tinto Hill – aka – Tintock Top
John Knox Monument, Necropolis
Dumbarton Rock from the path to Duncolm and Loch Humphrey
Carmyle Fords
Crookston Castle
Site of Nether Pollok Castle, Pollok Estate

old places

Glasgow – the dear green place – has a habit of disappearing. Here are a few of the old places photographed on my travels – some of which have since been demolished. (back to top)

Statue of industrialist John Elder, Elderpark
Detail above entrance to shipyard offices
Insignia and motto, Clydebank
Statue of Lady Elder, Elderpark
Sign, Virginia Street
Mercury’s head, old Glasgow Herald newspaper offices, Buchanan Street
Schipka Pass, off Gallowgate
Plaque, Trongate
Detail, Pierce Institute, Govan
Detail, Brunswick Street
Signs off Tontine Lane, Trongate
Detail, ex-British Linen Bank, Govan Road
Christian Association, St Andrew’s Cross
Cosmo Chicken Bar, Govan Road
Val d’Oro chip shop
Detail, Christian Association
Pierce Institute, Govan
Govan Milestone by Helen Denerley
Detail, Corinthian Bar, Ingram Street
Detail, ex-Trustee Savings Bank, Govan Road
Laurieston Bar
The Castle Bar price list
Old road sign near Tinto Hill
ex-Govan Shipyard, Govan Road
Statue of James Watt, George Square
The Mercat Building, Trongate
Derelict shop, London Road
MacKinnon’s Bar, Gallowgate
Gartloch asylum
Detail, Pierce Institute, Govan
Detail of derelict building, Govan Road
City Chambers, George Square
Angel/cherub on tombstone, Govan Old Parish Church
Elderpark Library. Opened by Andrew Carnegie
Govan Road
Disused church, Bowling
Custom House Bowling
Detail, Brunswick Street
Carlton Place
Close entrance, 59 Shaw Street, Govan

new places

Glasgow is a work-in-progress, not all of it progressive. Gone is the red and blonde sandstone, replaced by brick, glass and steel. (back to top)

Glasgow Science Centre
Shields Rd Subway car park, Scotland Street
A new development on Pollokshaws Road
Utopia, off Pollokshaws Road. Now available for rent
New houses at Gartloch Village – alien brick arrives in Scotland
New apartments on the Clyde – many now to let
Sheriff Court
Farmfoods, Silverburn. Earmarked for closure, along with the Gala Bingo and the Credit Union
Side street at Glasgow Fort
Side elevation of the SMG/STV Building, Pacific Quay
Silverburn Shopping Centre, Pollok
A New Gorbals housing development
Digital Media Centre, Pacific Quay. Subsidised offices for TV/Media companies
Looking north from the Arc Bridge
Clyde Auditorium, aka the Armadillo. Generic silver-clad construction now seen in most cities
Detail of a New Gorbals housing development
The SMG timeline runs out at 2007
The Arc aka The Squinty Bridge, Govan Road. Closed for 6 months due to bad construction
Rear of News International, Middlesex Street. Conspicuously heavy on security
Clock outside Buchanan Street Bus Station
M74 Completion Roadworks – driving its way through south-side Glasgow communities
Glasgow Fort Junction 10 off the M8
New building in New Gorbals
SMG Building, Pacific Quay, Govan Road
Tait’s Tower recreation – it never worked
Another New Gorbals housing development
The SMG logo as street furniture, off Pacific Quay
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