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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.

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

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

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)

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

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)

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

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