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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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)

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