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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.

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

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)

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

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

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

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