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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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)

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