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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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)

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