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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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