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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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