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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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