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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.

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

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)

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

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

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

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