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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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