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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.

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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