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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.

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

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

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

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

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