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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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)

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