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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.

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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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