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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.

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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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