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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.

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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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)

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