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

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

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)

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

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

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