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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.

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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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)

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