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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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