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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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