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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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