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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.

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

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

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)

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

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)

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

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