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

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

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

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

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)

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