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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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)

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