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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.

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

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

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

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

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)

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