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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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