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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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