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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.

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

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

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

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)

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

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