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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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