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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.

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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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