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

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)

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

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

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

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