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

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

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)

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

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

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)

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