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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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