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

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)

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

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

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

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)

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