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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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