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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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