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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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