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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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)

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