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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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