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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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
Clock outside Buchanan Street Bus Station
Farmfoods, Silverburn. Earmarked for closure, along with the Gala Bingo and the Credit Union
Silverburn Shopping Centre, Pollok
Shields Rd Subway car park, Scotland Street
Side street at Glasgow Fort
New houses at Gartloch Village – alien brick arrives in Scotland
Glasgow Science Centre
Clyde Auditorium, aka the Armadillo. Generic silver-clad construction now seen in most cities
M74 Completion Roadworks – driving its way through south-side Glasgow communities
A New Gorbals housing development
Another New Gorbals housing development
Digital Media Centre, Pacific Quay. Subsidised offices for TV/Media companies
SMG Building, Pacific Quay, Govan Road
Sheriff Court
Rear of News International, Middlesex Street. Conspicuously heavy on security
Side elevation of the SMG/STV Building, Pacific Quay
New building in New Gorbals
The Arc aka The Squinty Bridge, Govan Road. Closed for 6 months due to bad construction
The SMG timeline runs out at 2007
A new development on Pollokshaws Road
Utopia, off Pollokshaws Road. Now available for rent
New apartments on the Clyde – many now to let
Glasgow Fort Junction 10 off the M8
Looking north from the Arc Bridge
Detail of a New Gorbals housing development
The SMG logo as street furniture, off Pacific Quay
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