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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.

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

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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