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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.

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

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

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

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)

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

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