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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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