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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.

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

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)

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

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

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

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)

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