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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.

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

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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