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

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

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)

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

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)

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

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