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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.

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

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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