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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.

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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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)

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