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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.

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

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

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)

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

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

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