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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.

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

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

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

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

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)

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