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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.

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

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

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)

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

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)

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

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