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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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