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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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)

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