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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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