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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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