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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.

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

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

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)

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

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

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