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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.

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

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)

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

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

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

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)

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