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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.

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

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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