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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.

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

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)

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

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

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

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)

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