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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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