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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.

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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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)

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