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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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)

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