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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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